Ukrainian WTA player Dayana Yastremska upset her Belarusian opponent Victoria Azarenka to clinch a spot in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Later, she would go on to slam down a question about playing against a Belarusian player.
The 23-year-old challenger faced Belarus’ Azarenka for the second time in her career and made sure she represented her home country well. She defeated Azarenka 7-6(6), 6-4 in an intense two-hour-long match and secured the quarter-finals berth for the first time in her career at a Grand Slam.
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has shredded the relationship between the people and players of the two nations. WTA players like Elina Svitolina,
Marta Kostyuk and Yastremska refuse to shake hands or embrace their opponents if they come from Russia or Belarus in solidarity with their nation’s lost ones. Last year, Yastremska expressed her disappointment in the WTA for not supporting the Ukrainian cause against their Russian rivals.
“I was surprised by the decision of WTA, but on the other hand, it’s not the first time Ukrainian players showed WTA, what is happening,” the Ukrainian had reacted to WTA’s decision earlier.
The Ukrainian star decided not to entertain the question and, instead, said that even if she answered, the journalist asking would not have liked her answers if she spoke out on how she truly felt about the Belarusians and Russians on tour.
🇺🇦❤️@D_Yastremska • #AusOpen • #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/GPyNUmjOFj
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2024
“Playing against the Belarusian player? If I’m going to start talking about it, I think you’re not going to like my answers, so I’m just gonna say I want to skip this question,” she said.
She further added that it is an already known fact on how the Ukrainians feel about their Russian and Belarusian neighbours.
“Because I think, like, if you’re asking this question, I’m sure you know how is it for us, for Ukrainians to play against Russians and Belarusian. I’m sure you know, so I don’t think it’s a good way to ask about this question,” Yastremska expressed her frustration with the question.
“The war put a lot of pressure on me,” Dayana Yastremska speaks on the added stress due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict
Dayana Yastremska during the press conference said that the war between her nation Ukraine and Russia had taken a toll on her mental strength and her performances.
Speaking on her impressive run in the Australian Open, the Ukrainian star said that she made some crucial changes to her mental game before coming into this season. She shared that previously due to the conflict and other social events happening around her, every action, and every performance just added additional pressure on her.
“I was putting a lot of pressure on myself in different ways. In the way that it’s the war and I have to show better results, you know, for Ukraine. And I wasn’t playing just for myself in the beginning,” Yastremska said.
“But now I decided that from this year no more pressure, no more, like, high expectations for myself. Just be the way you are, and we will see how it’s gonna go,” she added.
