Anna Kalinskaya says she is open to love on tour after revealing repeated DMs from Holger Rune
The 26-year-old, who previously dated Nick Kyrgios and Jannik Sinner, said healthy relationships can bolster performance; Rune said his messages were misunderstood.
Anna Kalinskaya said she remains open to finding love while on the professional circuit and disclosed that a top-20 male player messaged her repeatedly before she rejected his advances, singling out world No. 11 Holger Rune.
Appearing on the First&Red podcast, the 26-year-old Russian said several ATP players had sent direct messages but that one sender stood out. "Someone wrote like 10 times and then gave up," she said, later identifying the player as Rune and adding, "He writes to everyone. He thinks too much of himself. Maybe he's just desperate." Kalinskaya said she did not rule out relationships on tour, saying a healthy, mature partnership can be supportive rather than a distraction: "No, I think it lifts you up if it is a healthy relationship and emotionally both people are mature and understand what is good for their partner."
Rune responded on the social platform X, saying cultural differences may have led to a misunderstanding and that a comment on a story should not be read automatically as an invitation to a date. "If I want to go for a date, I ask for a date. Don't worry," he wrote. The exchange drew attention from tennis media and fans, and Kalinskaya's remarks amplified interest in her off-court life.
Kalinskaya also addressed the particular pressures that come from dating another well-known player. She said both partners try to maintain normalcy but that public recognition and scrutiny make simple activities, such as going out to dinner, more complicated because of attention. She rejected the notion that agents influence players' private relationships, saying, "Agents do not have nothing to do with relationships. Work is work, personal life is personal life. Off court it's different, no one decides for us."
Her comments carry added context because of two previous, high-profile relationships inside the sport. Kalinskaya was linked to Nick Kyrgios in 2020 and 2021, a relationship that drew public attention at matches and other sporting events and ended within months. In 2024 she was seen publicly with Jannik Sinner after his U.S. Open victory, sharing a celebratory kiss in September. Rumors of a split surfaced later that year; Sinner subsequently confirmed he was single and has spoken about wanting stability as his career progresses.
Kalinskaya declined to name her current partner on the podcast but confirmed he is not an athlete and works in finance. Reports and sightings at tournaments suggest she has rekindled a relationship with Tomas Ferrari, a businessman she dated in 2021. Ferrari has been seen courtside at events this season, including Madrid, Indian Wells and Miami, and has appeared with Kalinskaya at tournaments where they were photographed alongside her dog, Bella.
The exchange involving Rune underlines how interactions on social media can become public controversies for players whose private lives attract wide attention. Kalinskaya framed her own approach as pragmatic: she said that a relationship should be built on mutual maturity and understanding rather than ego, and that under those conditions love can provide emotional strength rather than hinder performance.
Her interview fed a continuing conversation within tennis about the interplay between personal relationships and professional life on tour, a subject that draws scrutiny whenever high-profile players are involved. Kalinskaya's remarks and Rune's public response further illustrate how quickly off-court interactions can become part of the sport's broader narrative.