|
The American 11th seed, who triumphed here in
2017, fought off two match points but on the third was caught
out of position behind the baseline when the Russian ripped a
backhand that clipped the net chord and landed in.
"I was playing one good point, one bad point, one good point.
The inconsistency doesn't help me at all," said Stephens.
"She did a good job just staying there, keep fighting. She never
really let me in. Kudos to her. She executed her game style
really well."
Kalinskaya, playing her first career Grand Slam night match and
first inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, did not appear intimidated
facing Stephens, whose U.S. Open tune-up included a run to the
last 16 in Cincinnati.
The 20-year-old Russian, who won three qualifying matches to
make the main draw, broke Stephens at her first opportunity to
pull ahead 5-3 in the first set and never looked back as she
went on to secure the biggest win of her young career.
"It feels amazing to win the first match on this court, a
subdued Kalinskaya said in her on-court interview. "I just tried
to focus and don't think too much about her and think just about
my game."
Kalinskaya was only broken once during the match and managed to
convert three of her four break point chances.
Up next for Kalinskaya will be American wildcard Kristie Ahn,
who stunned Cincinnati runner-up and 2004 U.S. Open champion
Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
