Dayana Yastremska achieved her first Grand Slam quarter-final victory at the Australian Open by defeating Victoria Azarenka. She put aside the pressure of representing a country at war to achieve this. As the 93rd ranked player in the world, her win over the 18th seed Azarenka is not her first shock result, having beaten Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the first round.
Two years after the war in Ukraine began, this is Yastremska’s first time making it past the opening round of a Grand Slam tournament. She admitted putting a lot of pressure on herself due to the war and feeling the need to show better results for Ukraine. However, she has since decided to release herself from such pressure and high expectations, choosing to just be herself and see how things go.
Even as the 23-year-old is learning to handle the pressures, reminders of what is happening in her native Ukraine are never far away. She recently disclosed that a rocket hit her grandmother’s house before her first round defeat in the Brisbane International earlier this month. Yastremska expressed how emotionally tough it is to play given the ongoing situation in Ukraine. She emphasized the general difficulty in managing emotions and everything that is happening inside herself.
Yastremska avoided answering a question about the extra pressure playing against Azarenka given her country’s involvement as a staging post for Russian troops. This reluctance to answer indicates the complex emotions involved in playing against competitors from certain countries. Despite the challenging circumstances, Ukraine has two women in the quarter-finals, with Marta Kostyuk joining Yastremska.
Yastremska expressed pride in both herself and Kostyuk for their achievements, as well as pride in all Ukrainians for showing good results in the tournament. She now faces Czech Linda Noskova in a bid for the semi-final, while Kostyuk is set to play against American fourth seed Coco Gauff.
Source: Reuters
