The first round of the singles tournament at Wimbledon 2026 on the grass courts concluded for Ukraine's fifth-ranked player, Angelina Kalinina. In a tense three-set match, the 66th-ranked player in the world lost to former Russian Kamilla Rahimova, who now competes under the flag of Uzbekistan.
Drama in the third set
The match started successfully for the Ukrainian: Kalinina managed to push her opponent in the final moments of the first set and took it with a score of 6:4. However, she could not build on this advantage — Rahimova responded with confident play in the second set, winning it 6:4 and forcing the match into a deciding set.
The fate of the ticket to the next round was decided by the tension in the third set. At a score of 5:6, when Kalinina was serving for the match, her game completely fell apart. She failed to win a single point and lost the deciding game to nil. The final score was 6:4, 4:6, 5:7 in favor of Rahimova (WTA 70).
History of performances at Wimbledon
This is Kalinina's second consecutive defeat at the start of the British major. In 2024, she was also eliminated in the first round, and she missed last year's tournament due to injury. Her best results on the London courts remain reaching the second round in 2022 and 2023.
Continuing the fight in doubles
Despite being eliminated from the singles draw, Kalinina is not leaving Wimbledon. She will continue competing in the doubles event alongside her compatriot Daria Yastremska. Notably, Yastremska has already won her first singles match.
Thus, Ukrainian fans will be able to see Kalinina on the grass for a few more days — now in a duo with Yastremska, who is demonstrating excellent form at this major.