Anna Kalinskaya vs Kamilla Rakhimova

WTA Washington 1st Round Preview: Anna Kalinskaya vs Kamilla Rakhimova

🧠 Form & Context

Anna Kalinskaya
📉 Patchy 2025: After a strong 2024 season (38–19), Kalinskaya has hit turbulence in 2025 with a 10–13 record, including 1–6 on hard courts.
🔥 Peak level: Reached career-high WTA No. 11 earlier this year and took out Pegula, Keys, and Dolehide in spring, but hasn’t sustained that form.
🏛️ D.C. comfort: Semifinalist in 2019 and quarterfinalist in 2022—has historically played well at this event.
🤕 Physical setbacks: Injury issues in Singapore and Strasbourg earlier this year have disrupted rhythm. She retired in two events and gave a walkover in another.

Kamilla Rakhimova
⏫ Solid stretch: A respectable 19–21 W/L in 2025, including a nice Wimbledon run (R3) and back-to-back qualifying wins here over Lepchenko and Ngounoue.
🧱 Grit factor: Came through multiple three-setters on grass and clay recently; showed impressive resilience in Eastbourne and Paris.
📉 Hard-court inconsistency: Despite her gritty style, she has a 4–9 record on hard in 2025 and has lost winnable matches from strong positions.
💪 Confidence builder: Beat Paolini and Ito at Wimbledon and handled Teichmann comfortably in Rabat—clearly not lacking belief.

🔍 Match Breakdown

Kalinskaya’s weapons are more potent—especially her flat backhand and first-strike game. She’ll try to take time away from Rakhimova and keep points short, especially given recent injuries and her fragile hard-court form this year.

Rakhimova brings the consistency and fitness edge into this contest. If she extends rallies and targets Kalinskaya’s movement, she could make this physical. Her rhythm from qualifying also gives her an edge in match readiness.

The previous meeting in Dubai (2024) was a clear 6–2, 6–2 win for Kalinskaya, but she was in much better form then. Now, the gap has closed.

🔮 Prediction

Prediction: Kalinskaya in 2 tight or 3 sets.
She hasn’t looked great on hard courts this year, but Kalinskaya has too much firepower to ignore—especially on a court she enjoys. Still, don’t be shocked if Rakhimova takes advantage of a sluggish start or lapses in physicality.