"Heard more rockets than ever" - Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska shares horror of "scariest night" during ongoing visit to home country amid Russia war
Dayana Yastremska shared her ordeal as heavy bombardment turned her ongoing visit to Ukraine's Odesa into a nightmare.
Yastremska, born and raised in Odesa, returned to her hometown after her exit from the WTA Linz Open. However, on the night of 7 February, rockets rained down when Yastremska was walking her dog at a parking lot in the city.
The 23-year-old, shaken by the sound of rockets, stayed within the safety of the parking lot. During her time there, she posted a video to let her followers know of the predicament she found herself in. Captioning the video, Yastremska wrote:
"Today is the scariest night for me. I've heard more than ever rockets near by me. And we're still here at the parking..."
Through the caption, Yastremska also lashed out at Russia for its incessant bombing of Odesa, which started in February 2022.
"People, if we can call you people, can you stop doing this s*%t"
Russia's bombardment of Odesa has resulted in significant losses, including a March 2022 shelling on Dachne village, a village situated close to Odesa, which set fire to nine houses and damaged a natural gas pipeline.
In July 2023, another attack severely damaged The Historic Center of Odesa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other notable monuments to suffer severe damage from the attacks included The House of Scientists and the Transfiguration Cathedral.
Dayana Yastremska defied all odds to put up a brilliant display at the Australian Open
At the 2024 Australian Open, Yastremska entered the main draw as a qualifier. The 23-year-old faced reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the first round and clinched a 6-1, 6-2 win. Her second-round match against Varvara Gracheva was just as one-sided, with Yastremska prevailing 6-3, 6-2.
Emma Navarro put up a tough fight against Yastremska in the third round, but the Ukrainian ultimately won 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. Veteran Victoria Azarenka was Yastremska's fourth-round opponent, but the 23-year-old drew curtains on the former's run, winning it 7-6(6), 6-4.
In the quarterfinals, Yastremska defeated youngster Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-4. However, Yastremska's Australian Open run came to an end in the semifinals, where she lost 4-6, 4-6 to Qinwen Zheng.
Despite Yastremska's superb showing at the Australian Open, Ukraine was clearly on her mind throughout her run in Melbourne. After her first-round victory over Vondrousova, she disclosed that before her appearance at the Brisbane International, a Russian rocket attack struck her grandmother's house in Odesa. Yastremska fled Ukraine in 2022 as the conditions were not favorable for her to pursue a tennis career.