‘Winning for my country brought a lot of pressure’
Relaxed Yastremska in form of life
IN 2020, the route towards the latter stages of a Grand Slam seemed straight and smooth for a 19-year-old Dayana Yastremska, who was already in the world’s top 25. In the intervening years that road has taken some wicked twists and turns.
First in 2021, when she failed a doping test and was provisionally banned. After six months of protesting her innocence, it was ruled she bore no fault and her ban was lifted. Then in 2022, when Vladimir Putin’s tanks rolled into Ukraine and she and her sister fled to Paris, leaving their parents at home in Odesa.
And yet here she is — a major quarter-finalist for the first time and three wins away from emulating Emma Raducanu as the second qualifier to win a Slam.
The Ukrainian beat Belarusian Victoria Azarenka — twice a winner of this title — 7-6, 6-4, and faces Linda Noskova next.
Countrywoman Marta Kostyuk is also through and was due to play Coco Gauff overnight. Perspective is a powerful force in sport and there is no doubt the horrifying invasion of their homeland has lit a fire beneath Ukraine’s players.
Yastremska, 23, said: ‘I’m proud of Marta. I’m proud of us, of Ukrainians, and we are showing good results. She also had to deal with playing Russians.’
Yet there is another side to that coin, and Yastremska has struggled under the strain of representing her nation.
‘I was putting pressure on myself. In the way it’s the war and I have to show better results for Ukraine,’ she said.
‘I wasn’t playing just for myself. I decided from this year, no more pressure. Be the way you are and we’ll see how it goes.’
So far it is going very well indeed, and in a wide-open top half of the draw, Yastremska’s attacking game gives her a puncher’s chance of making it all the way to the final.
Czech Noskova, 19, advanced to her first grand slam quarter-final after Elina Svitolina was forced to retire with a back injury only three games into their fourth-round clash.
The former world number three, who has made a very impressive return following the birth of daughter Skai last year, appeared the favourite to make the final from a wide open top half of the draw.
But her back locked up in the first game of the match and she sobbed as she called it a day trailing 3-0.
‘This one I think I never had that before, the shooting pain like this,’ she said. ‘I I felt like someone shot me in the back.’
In the men’s singles, a blockbuster set of quarterfinals awaits at after Carlos Alcaraz led the favourites into the last eight yesterday.
In complete contrast to the women’s draw, all of the top six seeds have made it through, while Taylor Fritz, at 12, is the lowest-ranked player still left in the tournament.
Alcaraz rated his performance against Miomir Kecmanovic as almost perfect, the second seed hitting 43 winners in a 6-4 6-4 6-0 victory on Rod Laver Arena.
If he can maintain the same level through the next six days, he will fancy his chances of possibly beating another Serbian on the same court on Sunday.
Alcaraz missed last year’s tournament with a leg injury but has dropped only one set so far on his way through to a first quarter-final in Melbourne.
Asked what worked well, hed said with a grin: ‘I think everything. I did everything almost perfectly.’
Alcaraz will next take on sixth seed Alexander Zverev, who survived a deciding fifth-set tie-break for the second time in four rounds to make it past Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
Third seed Daniil Medvedev and ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz were up against the only real surprise packages of the fourth round in Nuno Borges and Arthur Cazaux, respectively.
Medvedev had a wobble against 69th-ranked Borges, the first Portuguese player but regrouped in the fourth to claim a 6-3 7-6 (4) 5-7 6-1 victory and reach the last eight for the third time in the last four years.
Hurkacz ended the run of French wild card Cazaux, coming from a break down in the opening set to win 7-6 (6) 7-6 (3) 6-4.