Dayana Yastremska has become one of the big surprises of this 2024 Australian Open, adding seven consecutive victories since the qualifying phase. Her next duel against Linda Noskova puts a ticket to the semifinals on the table.
Seven games, seven wins. In theory, it is usually enough distance to become champion in a Grand Slam, unless your path begins in the qualifying phase. It is the case of Dayana Yastremska in this Open the Australia 2024, surprising the entire public with a level of tennis that he never lost. A precocious talent who reached the top 20 four seasons ago and then disappeared completely due to multiple factors that removed him from the scene. Now, at 23 years old, his life has led him to the best result of his career, a prize that could be multiplied if he continues adding wins in Melbourne.
“In recent years, a lot of things have happened in my life, but I’m not going to talk about them right now, maybe at another time. Many things affected me and because of that I couldn’t play the way I wanted, and I also usually put a lot of pressure on myself,” commented the one from Odessa in her last press conference. “The war, of course, has affected us a lot, because I have not been able to return home when I wanted to, or not as much as before. While in Brisbane, for example, I read that a bomb was dropped near my grandmother’s house… it’s hard to compete with that level of emotions, but the worst thing is coming to terms with what’s happening. People have forgotten about it, but I don’t feel like talking about it either. In general it is difficult to play, but after two years I have learned to deal with all the emotions and everything that is happening,” contrasts Marta Kostyuk’s compatriot, also in the quarterfinals.
Now that the good news has finally arrived, Yastremska is excited to have an impact of the same proportion. “I suppose people will be very proud to see me here, I’m sure they will write and ask themselves where I had kept this level of play during these last few years,” she assesses with a touch of humor. “I imagine it was also very unexpected for them, I don’t know, but I think they will be proud. I will be happy if you feel proud. I am super happy and super tired, all at the same time (laughs). “It’s my first Grand Slam quarterfinal, it’s supposed to be something super special, but I feel like it’s only a small part of what I had to do,” she says in a phrase that reflects her ambition.
The problem is when that ambition becomes excessive, taking your feet off the ground and entering into a dissatisfaction that can lead to frustration. “Throughout my entire career I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, in different ways. The arrival of the war two years ago pushed me to show my best results for Ukraine. At first I felt like I wasn’t playing just for myself, so I put even more pressure on myself than when I was young. In a topic that requires much more depth, but what it boils down to is that I always put too much pressure on myself. Since this year I have decided not to put more pressure on myself, not like before, without aiming for such high expectations. I simply am the way I am, we’ll see where this takes me,” says the current world No. 93, who will jump to the top50 after this tournament.
AN OPPORTUNITY WITH A TRAP
Lea Boskovic, Valentini Grammatikopoulou, Maya Joint, Marketa Vondrousova, Varvara Gracheva, Emma Navarro and Victoria Azarenka. Without being the most complicated path, but by no means the easiest, destiny – and daily work – has placed Dayana Yastremska on the verge of her first Grand Slam semi-final. To do this she will not have to beat a top 10, she already did this in the first round. She won’t have to beat a former Australian Open champion either, she already did this last morning. Her next challenge is called Linda Noskovaanother woman who seeks to break her ceiling in the face of an opportunity that both would have signed up for.
“She is a good player, I saw some of her matches this week, so I am sure we will have a very interesting duel in the quarterfinals,” the Ukrainian confessed in the press room after her last victory, assessing what type of player the Czech is. and what he thinks the game that will take place next Wednesday could be like. “I don’t have much more to say about her, I need to focus on myself because everything is going to depend on myself. Of course she is a great player, as well as a good person,” concludes Dayana.
2024-01-23 00:00:11
#year #decided #stop #putting #pressure
