Yastremskaya: If I had to describe this match in a nutshell, I would say that I seemed to have forgotten how to play tennis

Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremskaya commented on her entry into the second stage of the main draw of the WTA 500 tournament in San Diego (USA).

“I think my main goal today was to play and have fun. But the first set didn’t bring much pleasure, because the score was almost equal, each could win. In the second set I lost my head a little. In the third set I just changed, I told myself that I need to go out on the court and do everything I can. Especially on the serve. Because in the second game I had a lot of problems with it.”

“To be honest, if I had to describe this match in a nutshell, I would say that I seemed to have forgotten how to play tennis. Because after the Australian Open I went to a tournament in Linz, went home from there and didn’t train for a whole week. It was quite scary, there were massive attacks, and I couldn’t sleep. Before the war, I could come home to Odessa literally after every tournament. Now it takes two days to get there, and it also takes two days to leave. So there are some difficulties. But I enjoyed being at home.”

“Then I went to Nice, trained there for three days, and then went to Dubai. There I received a wild card, lost my match, then again a long flight here, three days of training… That is, I’m really trying to find my game and move well on the court. So I think I did well today.”

The Ukrainian beat American Caroline Dolehide at the start of the WTA 500 event in San Diego. The meeting lasted two hours and five minutes.

Yastremskaya will play with “neutral” tennis player Anna Blinkova in the second round. Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk also continues performing in San Diego.