Charleston Open: WATCH-Anna Kalinskaya delivers major upset, beats Australian Open champion Madison Keys to storm into quarter-finals

Tennis star Anna Kalinskaya has defeated world number five Madison Keys in the Round of 16 of the Charleston Open 2025. The Russian has defeated the 2025 Australian Open champion with the scoreline of 6-2, 6-4. The star player is now set to face Sofia Kenin in the quarter-finals, where the two WTA stars aim to steal a semi-final berth.

Kalinskaya had a great start to the game after taking the lead in the first set. The 26-year-old has continued her dominance in the second set, showcasing a breathtaking performance by hitting exceptional drop shots that have baffled the American star player. The Russian got the chance to take advantage of Keys's unforced error to mark a straight-sets victory to storm into the quarter-finals.

Watch her winning moment here:

Kalinskaya is there!! 😮#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/YtKVj1EcZL

— wta (@WTA) April 3, 2025

Anna Kalinskaya reflected on her stellar win over Madison Keys

The Russian has reflected upon her stellar win over the Grand Slam Champion. Kalinskaya has called this a 'special' win, which was much needed to bolster her confidence after so many injuries and horrendous performances in the last few tournaments, like the Miami Open 2025 and Indian Wells.

The 26-year-old tennis player has lauded Madison Keys and talked about how she got the chance to gain an advantage over the American star. The Moscow-born star was extremely aggressive in the game and aims to maintain the consistency heading to the last eight rounds of the tournament.

"This one is special. I needed this for my confidence. I had an unfortunate start to the year, but it's nice to be back and playing at such a high level. I think the key tonight was to change a little bit the rhythm; I did a few drop shots, especially in the first set. I didn't want to go into very long rallies, because she's a great player and she has unbelievable strong shots, so I tried to step in on the serve, be aggressive as much as I could, and be very consistent ... to keep the level, and I think that was the key," she said.