It’s the battle of Annas at the US Open this year! Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya is currently playing her round 2 match against Hungary’s Anna Bondar. The former has taken the first set and her hard work is clearly paying off! Per her Instagram stories, Kalinskaya was hard at practice with fellow WTA star Katie Boulter.

The British tennis player will also begin her second round later today against Jessica Maneiro. But first, a little practice for the WTA stars Boulter and Kalinskaya, who also happen to be dating fellow ATP stars. While Kalinskaya is dating World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, Boulter has long been associated with Aussie Alex de Minaur. These ATP counterparts will also play in the second round today!

Meanwhile, on her Instagram story, Kalinskaya reposted a picture from a fan that showed Boulter and herself walking off the court, all smiles. The original caption said “Winning,” while the Russian player added to it, “Today I sweat just a bit,” with a melting and laugh-crying emoji. Anna Kalinskaya will be playing both singles and doubles, so that’s double duty for her!

Yesterday, the Russian defeated the American Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-2, while Boulter was up against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. On the doubles side, Boulter and Kalinskaya ousted Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 yesterday. As the scoreline shows, it was a bit of a slow start for the duo but a comeback enabled them to go to the second round. Boulter and Kalinskaya will play against Luisa Stefani and Demi Schuurs tomorrow.

Interestingly, while these two players are playing in two formats, the third one doesn’t see their participation. Boulter and Kalinskaya, ranked 33 and 15 respectively, are dating two players from the top 10. While the British and Aussie pairing have played mixed doubles together before, it would be a first for Kalinskaya and Sinner whenever it happens. So far, the US Open is not the rigth venue.

Interestingly, it was their mixed doubles career that brought de Minaur and Boulter together in the first place!

“I’m actually surprised she said something nice about me“: Alex de Minaur on Katie Boulter

What happens when you mix an Aussie and Briton together? You get endless on-court entertainment! When Alex de Minaur started out 2024 on a strong note, first defeating Novak Djokovic and then Alexander Zverev at the United Cup in Perth, it catapulted him into the top 10. Noting how special it was to do it in his hometown, Demon posted on Instagram, “Talk about special moments… Top 10 in Sydney ❤️🔥😈🏠”

Katie Boulter commented, “No person deserves it more than this man. Only just the beginning.” And de Minaur was rather shocked! He told the Rod Laver Arena crowd after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in a pre-Australian Open exhibition match, “Look, I’m actually surprised she said something nice about me. Normally every time she goes on social media to reply to my posts or whatever, it’s always having a dig at me. So it’s nice every now and again to get a compliment.”

Well, nothing like wit and charm mixed together in an explosive mixture. It took tenacity from de Minaur to get Boulter to go from saying ‘no’ to ‘maybe’ to go out with him. And look where the couple is now!