Dayana Yastremska has become a household name in the world of tennis. The Ukrainian player created history by defeating Czech Republic star Marketa Vondrousova, who was also the 7th seed coming into the tournament and is the reigning Wimbledon champion. However, Yastremska gained more mileage for her post-match comments on the Ukraine crisis and how it really affected her before the match was played.
Yastremska won rather convincingly, 6-1, 6-2 and will play Varvara Gracheva of the Netherlands in the Round of 64 up next on Thursday. Marketa Vondrousova played rather poorly according to many pundits and fans. But what surely didn’t dilute her opponent’s win is her admission about having to deal with adversity even when being away from her home country.
Dayana Yastremska revealed that a rocket was thrown by Russian armed forces on her grandmother’s house in Ukraine just a week or two again when she was playing in the Brisbane International 2024 competition. Yastremska reiterated that she is proud to be Ukrainian and is also extremely respectful of her country’s army as well as citizens fighting for her country’s sovereignity. She urged her fans and neutrals alike to remember the war and back Ukraine as much as possible.
Interestingly, Dayana Yastremska used her influence to claim that it is not enough to talk about Ukraine’s plight because of the Russia annexation for just a few seconds and then the issue is forgotten. Last year as well, Dayana Yastremska accused Russian players of ill-treating their Ukrainian counterparts like her and slammed the WTA for not penalising them severely for their behavior.
Dayana Yastremska prize money, ranking and residence
Marketa Vondrousova is another addition to Dayana Yastremska defeating players ranked or seeded higher than her in a tournament. Last year itself, Dayana Yastremska beat the likes of big names like Genie Bouchard and Heather Watson. At one point of time, her WTA ranking was No.21 in the world in the women’s singles category. Although now it is No.93 and she is aiming for a comeback.
