"If I start talking, you're not going to like my answers"- Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska on how she felt playing against Belarus' Victoria Azarenka
Dayana Yastremska pulled off the biggest Grand Slam win of her career on Monday, defeating former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round of the 2024 Australian Open.
This is the first time the Ukrainian has reached the quarterfinals at a Major, where she will next play against Czech teen sensation Linda Noskova. The victory must have been even sweeter for Yastremska as it came against a Belarusian, coming in light of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
For those unaware, players from Ukraine have been vocal against the continued participation of Russian and Belarusian tennis players on tour ever since the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, with Yastremska notable among them.
"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 lamented last year.
At her press conference after the win over Azarenka, she was made to touch on the topic once again, with one journalist asking her if she put herself under any extra pressure in the match because of her opponent's nationality.
The 23-year-old did not want to speak about the issue, however, saying instead that people would not like her answers if she started to speak her mind on Belarusians and Russians on tour. Dayana Yastremska, interestingly, also did not think the way the question was put to her was framed in the correct way.
"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," Yastremska said.
"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," she added.
Dayana Yastremska: "I decided that from this year no more pressure, no more high expectations for myself"
Dayana Yastremska, during the press conference, admitted that she has been putting a lot of pressure on herself since the war began, stating that she wanted to show better results in order to make Ukraine proud.
But this year, the 23-year-old is planning to step out of that and keep herself free of expectations so that she continue playing at her best level -- as evidenced by her run at the Australian Open this week.
"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," Dayana Yastremska said.
"Then I was putting pressure on myself that before, like, when I was younger, I was much better than I am right now. In many ways, it's too long, you know, if I will say every pressure that I was putting on myself. 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.