Ukrainian tennis player Yastremska triumphantly reaches semi-finals at 2024 Australian Open
Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine celebrates her victory over Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open 2024, Australia, January 24, 2024. Photo: AP / Andy Wong
For the first time, Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska has advanced to the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2024, setting a new personal record.
Suspilne. Sport reports that Yastremska, as a qualifier, eliminated seven opponents from the tournament at the Australian Open. The latest was the "neutral" Belarusian Viktoria Azarenka before the quarter-final match.
In the quarter-final, the Ukrainian athlete faced Czech player Linda Noskova and secured a victory.
Yastremska managed to defeat Noskova after two sets. In the early stages of the first set, both tennis players exchanged breaks, with the pivotal moment being the eighth game, where Yastremska secured another break and subsequently won the set.
In the first set, Yastremska continued her "aggressive" game, displaying 11 winners against Noskova's four, though committing more unforced errors (12-9).
The fate of the second set was determined by a single break, which Yastremska made at 3:3. Subsequently, she successfully defended games on her serve and won with a score of 6:4.
The Noskova vs. Yastremska match lasted for 1 hour and 20 minutes. The Ukrainian concluded the match with 19 winners and 23 unforced errors (while the Czech player had only six winners and 21 unforced errors).
The Czech tennis player had previously eliminated Ukraine's top-ranked player, Elina Svitolina, from the tournament.
Yastremska was one of two Ukrainian women to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open 2024.
The second was Marta Kostiuk, who, in round 16, defeated Russian player Maria Timofeeva. The participation of two Ukrainian tennis players in the quarter-finals is considered a national record.
Yastremska is the youngest Ukrainian female tennis player in history to reach the Grand Slam tournament semi-finals at 23.
In the semi-finals, the Ukrainian will compete against the match winner between the "neutral" player from Russia, Anna Kalinskaya, and Chinese player Zheng Saisai. Yastremska's match will take place on Thursday, January 25.
Rubryka recently reported that Ukrainian tennis players Elina Svitolina and Dayana Yastremska reached the round of 16 of the Australian Open.
The Ukrainian women's fencing team in saber secured a victory over the South Korean team, winning 41:40 in the final of the World Cup stage in Lengano, Italy. This marks their first victory since 2016.
As reported earlier, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh was among the 11 nominees for the prestigious "World Athlete of the Year 2023" award, as determined by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
