Dayana Yastremska (Ukraine) continues her sensational performance at the Australian Open 2024. The Ukrainian defeated Linda Noskova (Czech Republic) by 2-0 (6:3, 6:4) and became only the second woman in the Open Era of tennis to start from the qualifiers and reach the semi-finals in Melbourne.
The match at the Rod Laver Arena lasted 78 minutes, and Dayana Yastremska again showed that she knows how to mobilize in the most important moments and broke the resistance of the teenager Linda Noskova, who in the Round of 16 eliminated the top-seeded and world number one Iga Swiatek (Poland).
Dayana Yastremska made a total of three breaks in the match, which ensured her success. In the semi-finals, she will face the winner of the match between Anna Kalinskaya (Russia) and Qinwen Zheng (China).
Eliminating the two-time Melbourne champion Victoria Azarenka in the previous round, Dayana Yastremska started with confidence but was quickly broken. However, she took her opponent’s serve in the very next game, and at 4:3 in her favor she made another break. When she was given the opportunity to serve for the set, she faced a lot of pressure but saved a break point and won the set by 6:3.
The key moment in the second set was the seventh game when a nice backhand gave Dayana Yastremska the all-important break and paved her way to the semi-finals. She hit 19 winners to Linda Noskova‘s 6, and slightly more of her unforced errors (23-21) were not fatal.
The WTA No 93 Dayana Yastremska has three WTA Tour titles in her career. She is the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Emma Raducanu (UK) and Leylah Fernandez (Canada) did it at the US Open 2021, when both played in the final. In particular, at the Australian Open, the last time a competitor who started from the qualifiers played in the semi-finals was in 1978.
“I wasn’t born then. It’s great that I’m writing history. I’m very happy. I played well, but it certainly wasn’t the maximum of my abilities. I’m a little tired, but I gave it my all and I’m glad I was able to win”, said Dayana Yastremska in the interview on the court.