Yastremska cites mother’s birthday as motivation in Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships victory

DUBAI: Moments after she pulled off a huge upset over world No. 3 Barbora Krejcikova in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships second round on Wednesday, Dayana Yastremska looked straight at the camera, blew a kiss and made the shape of a heart with her fingers.

It was a message directed toward her mother, who is back in Ukraine celebrating her birthday and following her daughter’s march to the quarterfinals in Dubai from afar.

Yastremska’s 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over the reigning French Open champion was her fifth win of the week in Dubai, having made her way through three tough qualifying rounds before her two successes in the main draw.

The win against Krejcikova was the 21-year-old’s first top 10 triumph in two years and it earned her a place in her biggest WTA quarterfinal since Adelaide in 2020.

The Ukrainian was ranked as high as 21 in the world in January 2020, but a doping ban that was lifted in June last year derailed her career.

Yastremska had tested positive for a banned substance in an out-of-competition test and was provisionally suspended in January 2021. She was cleared of any wrongdoing by the ITF in a hearing at the end of May and returned to action in July.

Now ranked 146, Yastremska is trying to find her way back and things seem to be falling into place for her this week in the Emirates.

“I’m very excited, and I think it’s the first tournament since two years that I have won five matches in a row, so it means a lot to me,” Yastremska told Arab News on Wednesday after booking a quarterfinal date with Marketa Vondrousova.

“I think today the most important thing that really motivated me to win is my mother, because it’s her birthday today, so I really wanted to win and give her a big kiss to the