The WTA tournament in Miami was left without a second favorite on Sunday, Arina Sabalenka unexpectedly lost to Angelina Kalinina, who is ranked 36th in the world.

Aryna SabalenkoPhoto: Andy Wong/AP/Profimedia

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Arina Sabalenko lost in the third round of WTA Miami to Angelina Kalinina

According to the results of the match, which lasted 2 hours and 3 minutes, Kalinina won with a score of 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

In a difficult moment after the death of her ex-boyfriend at the age of 42, Arina did not find a rhythm in her serve (one of her main weapons), the Belarusian athlete had especially big problems in the “second”: the percentage of points earned was only 31%.

In total, Sabalenko lost six games from the start (three in the first set, as well as three in the decider), and the Australian Open champion’s day turned out to be gray.

In the 1/8 finals, Angelina Kalinina will meet Yulia Putintseva, who is ranked 68th in the WTA ranking.

The WTA 1000 category tournament will be held in Miami from March 19 to 31. Played on hard court, the main draw features 128 players and a total prize pool of $8,995,555. The champion of the overall title is Petra Kvitova (she is pregnant and will not participate in this year’s edition).

What to know about the death of Aryna Sabalenko’s ex-boyfriend

Konstantin Koltsov died at the age of 42. Belarusian media said that the death of the former hockey player could have been caused by a stroke, the Miami police claimed that it was a suicide, and his ex-wife said that “most likely, he was very drunk and the death would have occurred as a result of a traffic accident.” .

Kostyantyn Koltsov and Yulia Mykhaylova are raising three joint children aged 18, 16 and 5. They divorced in 2020.

Aryna Sabalenko’s father (also a former hockey player) died at the age of 43 at the end of 2019.

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