Anhelina Kalinina overcomes Veronika Kudermetova, to face Elena Rybakina in Italian Open final

Anhelina Kalinina became the lowest-ranked player to reach the Italian Open final since 1986 with a 7-5 5-7 6-2 win over Veronika Kudermetova in Rome.

She will face Elena Rybakina in the final after the Wimbledon champion got the better of Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-4 in the other semi-final.

The Ukrainian, Kalinina, powered past the 11th seed in two hours and 50 minutes in an intense battle to collect her second top-20 victory in a row (she beat Beatriz Haddad Maia in the previous round) – and only her fifth on clay.

Both players needed a 12th game to secure their opening sets, Kalinina – seeded No. 30 – took the opener before the Russian drew level in a tightly-fought second set.

Kalinina went four games in front in the decider before Kudermetova threatened a revival by winning two consecutive games, but it wasn’t to be as the 26-year-old continued her bid to win her first-ever WTA title.

“I can’t feel my legs!” Kalinina joked after the match. “There was so much tiredness in the last couple of days, three sets, three sets, three sets.

“I’m happy to be able to go through.”

She signed off with a heartfelt message to her home country, Ukraine.

“I just want to say that for me it’s also really important to win every match because, you know, with what Ukraine goes through.

“I just want to say that I really hope that I give a tiny light, maybe positive emotions for my country. I really hope Ukraine enjoys this a little bit.”

Kalinina is projected to earn a new-best singles ranking on Monday with a debut in the top 25.

If she goes one step further and wins the title on Saturday, she could even break into the top 20 – standing in her way will be Rybakina, who beat former French Open champion Ostapenko in straight sets.

Rybakina took the first set in 43 minutes – her fifth ace of the stanza sealing the advantage after she had raced into a 4-1 lead on the back of two breaks of serve.

However, Ostapenko – a Roland-Garros winner in 2017 – had control of the second set when rain interrupted proceedings. The Latvian led 4-1 when rain first stopped play. The break allowed Rybakina to regroup and she would dominate when play resumed to seal a straight-sets victory.

“Actually she used to work with my coach,” Rybakina said of Kalinina.

“We just have a good relationship. I’m always cheering for her also. Same, whenever I win, she’s always supporting. We have a good relationship.

“I’m happy that we’re going to play a final.”