Dayana Yastremska awarded Indian Wells wildcard after fleeing Ukraine

Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska has been awarded a wildcard entry into the BNP Paribas Open, which starts this week. 

The 21-year-old lost in the final of the Lyon Open to China’s Zhang Shuai on Sunday as she narrowly missed out on a fourth WTA title. 

Nonetheless, Yastremska’s performance across the week was inspiring, considering her circumstances ahead of the competition. 

In the days prior to the start of the tournament, Yastremska and her sister Ivanna had been forced to flee their home city of Odessa when Russia invaded Ukraine. The two spent two nights in an underground parking lot, before their parents helped them arrive safely in France. 

The sisters played with one another in doubles at Lyon, but lost in the first round. However, spurred on by the widespread crowd support, Yastremska reached the final of the singles and came agonisingly close to securing a historic win. 

Speaking after the final, Yastremska thanked the crowd for the support and said she’d be donating all her prize money ($15,900) to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia. 

“The prize money I earned here,  I’m going to give to the Ukrainian foundation to support Ukraine,” she said. “And if Ukrainian people are watching me, I want to say you guys are so strong. You have an amazing spirit. I try to fight for Ukraine.”

Yastremska also posted on Twitter and wrote: “My beloved Ukraine, I really wanted to win this one for you! I gave my absolute best throughout this week because that’s what Ukrainians do! Thank you for all the support I received this week, it means the world to me. I am forever grateful!”

As a result of her remarkable performance in Lyon, the Ukrainian climbed from 140th to 103rd in the world and has now secured a spot at one of tennis’