She escaped the war with Russia and is a singer: the incredible story of Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, figure at the Australian Open

The first Grand Slam of the year leaves unforgettable moments and the participation of Dayana Yastremska is one of them. . The Ukrainian, 93rd in the WTA rankings, had a dream tournament which allowed her to position herself in the semi-finals to the surprise of the entire tennis world. The athlete entered the tournament through qualifying and already has eight victories in Melbourne, including a ninth against the Chinese. Zheng Qinwen . However, in addition to being one of the nice surprises of the circuit, He also stands out for his particular experiences which even include a musical career and exile from his country following the war with Russia. .

Dayana Yamstreska He was born in the city of Odessa, Ukraine on May 15, 2003 and it was on the 2015 ITF circuit that he made his appearance in tennis. In the following years, he stood out by participating in the International WTA 250, where he won the editions of Hong Kong (2018), Hua Hin (2018) and Strasbourg (2019) . However, it will be necessary to wait for this Grand Slam for his name to begin to appear on the big stages. In the competition being played in Melbourne, the tennis player who was once ranked 21st in the world, began her participation in the qualifying round and little by little she overthrew the big favorites of the competition. In the first phase, she beat Marketa Vondrousova (7th in the ranking), then she beat Vika Azarenka (22nd and double world champion) in the fourth round. Major ) and, finally, in the quarter-finals with a score of 6-3 and 6-4 to the surprise of Linda Noskova (50th), who had just created the surprise after leaving Iga Swiatek, world number one, on the way. .

This unprecedented qualification for the semi-finals constitutes the best performance of his career in one of the four major tournaments of the year. In fact, this is the second time in history that a tennis player who started playing from the qualifying round ranked among the top four after what was achieved by Christine Matison in 1978 . At the level of all Grand Slams, he is the fifth to achieve this, being the most notable Emma Raducanu who won the US Open in 2021.

But it’s not all tennis for the 23-year-old. In confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukrainian showed her talents in music, particularly in rap, and released a song called “Thousands of Me”, which today has nearly 500,000 hits. listening on the Youtube platform. On the other hand, when the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, Yastremska had to leave her hometown with her little sister and abandon life with her parents. “We were at home in Odessa, spending time with my family before going on a trip to Lyon (to play the tournament there) with my father. The night was calm, but in the morning the bombs woke us up. We couldn’t believe or understand what was happening, it was crazy. It was neither a film nor a video game, we were in shock. “We left the apartment and took refuge in an underground parking lot while the bombs continued to explode.” commented on his direct experience of the hostilities that have ravaged his country since 2022.

In Australia things are different. After her straight-sets victory over Noskova, the three-time WTA 250 champion showed herself with the confidence of a tennis player who will seek glory at the Rod Laver Arena. “At first I felt like I wasn’t playing just for myself, so I put even more pressure on myself. Since this year, I have decided not to put more pressure on myself, without aiming for such high expectations. I’m just the way I am, we’ll see where that takes me.” he explained.

The Chinese athlete appears in the semi-finals Zheng Qinwen (15th in the world) What defeated the Russian Anna Kalínskaya in the quarter-finals by 6-7(4), 6-3 and 6-1 . The duel between the two for a historic ticket to the final It will be Thursday 25 at 6:45 a.m. Chile time.