Russian Tennis player Anna Kalinskaya's conversation with the umpire went viral during her match against fellow country woman Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Cincinnati masters in USA. With the crowd chants disrupting her concentration, she told the umpire the spectators they could be drunk as a video of the same surfaced on social media.
The 26-year-old didn't have the most auspicious of starts in the match leading up to the quarter-final, losing the opening set 3-6 to 12th seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova. With the youngster's concentration increasingly getting disrupted due to the crowd behaviour, the Russian Tennis star approached the umpire and said:
"I think maybe they’re drunk or something."
The umpire also agreed with her and responded:
"They probably are."
Anna Kalinskaya beats Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach Cincinnati Open's quarter-final
Despite dropping the first set against her fellow Russian rival, Kalinskaya managed to save a break point in the opening game of the second set. Kalinskaya, No.28 seed, ended up winning a stiff second set and comfortably won the third. The eventual scoreline was 6-3, 6-7 and 1-6.
Addressing her quarter-final match against the World No.3 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals, she admitted it will be a stiff challenge, claiming the Polish Tennis player is an absolute fighter.
"I’m excited. I hope it’s gonna be a great level. Iga is such a fighter. I have no idea what time I play. I mean, I play today. Maybe I should rest in the locker room."
Nevertheless, it's worth noting that Kalinskaya had beaten Swiatek 6-4 6-4 in their lone meeting in Dubai 2024. Swiatek had clinched the Wimbledon2025 title by beating Amanda Amisinova in the decider.
