Jannik Sinner has confirmed reports that he and fellow tennis pro Anna Kalinskaya are an item following rumours of romance between the pair. After the couple were pictured going for dinner and together and training at the same club in Italy, Sinner broke his silence on the speculation after his first round win over Christopher Eubanks at the French Open.
The 22-year-old, seeded second at Roland Garros, admitted to reporters: “I don’t like to talk about my private life much, but yes, Anna and I are dating.”
Kalinskaya also won her opening game in Paris, seeing off Clara Burel, and was in the crowd to watch her new partner in action.
And dating a famous tennis star is not new territory for the 25-year-old Russian. Back in 2020, she began a relationship with the notorious Nick Kyrgios, with the pair regularly spotted together away from the courts after first publicly appearing together at an NBA game.
But within months the two players had split and Kalinskaya’s social media activity suggested the break-up had been a messy one. “You are not a bad boy, you are simply a bad person,” she wrote on Instagram. “Have some respect for me as well please.”
But Kalinskaya has also made headlines on the court as well as off it. She burst onto the scene in the 2019 US Open, beating previous champion Sloane Stephens in her first ever Grand Slam match.
And in January this year she recorded her best ever performance at a Slam, reaching the last-eight stage at the Australian Open. There, she was beaten by eventual runner-up Zheng Qinwen in three sets, but the tournament propelled her into the world’s top-50.
And at the Dubai Championships, she upset world No.1 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, becoming only the second qualifier to reach a WTA 1000 final in the past two years. However, she couldn’t capture the trophy after losing to fellow qualifier Jasmine Paolini in the final.
The next opportunity to build on her progress this year will come on Thursday, when she faces Canadian Bianca Andreescu. By that point however, she’ll know if boyfriend Sinner will still be in the tournament for the third round.
The Italian star, who was his maiden Slam in Melbourne this year, faces home favourite Richard Gasquet on Wednesday night. Seeded third for the tournament, he has been billed by many as the actual favourite in Paris.
Sinner himself has previously been in the news for a high profile relationship. He dated Italian model Maria Braccini but the pair reportedly split this year.
