Dayana Yastremska

Yastremska at the 2012 Junior Orange Bowl

Yastremska had early success as a junior, finishing runner-up at the 12-and-under Junior Orange Bowl in 2012.[6] She made her debut on the ITF Junior Circuit in March 2014 at the age of 13. Towards the end of the year, she won her first title at a Grade 4 event in November. With this success, she moved up to playing higher-level tournaments more regularly. Yastremska reached a Grade 1 semifinal in July in Austria and won a Grade 2 title in August in Hungary. She made her debut at the highest-level Grade A tournaments in October, reaching the quarterfinals at the Osaka Mayor's Cup in Japan. She fared better in doubles, finishing runner-up to two Japanese players.[7][8]

Yastremska made her junior major debut at the 2016 Australian Open, where she made the singles quarterfinals.[9] In doubles, she made it to the final, losing to Anna Kalinskaya and Tereza Mihalíková alongside compatriot Anastasia Zarycká.[10] Yastremska only played Grade A tournaments the rest of the year. At the Copa Gerdau, she lost in the singles semifinals to Amanda Anisimova. In the doubles event, she partnered with Panna Udvardy to win the only Grade A title of her career, defeating the American team of Caty McNally and Natasha Subhash.[11] After a third round appearance in singles at the 2016 French Open,[7] Yastremska concluded her junior career at Wimbledon. At her last event, she made her only junior Grand Slam singles final. After upsetting top seed Olesya Pervushina in the semifinals,[12] she finished runner-up to Anastasia Potapova.[13][14] This helped her reach a career-high junior ranking of No. 6 in the world.[15]

Yastremska began playing low-level events on the ITF Women's Circuit in 2015. Her best result of the year was a semifinal loss to Markéta Vondroušová at a $10k event in Sharm El Sheikh. She won her first ITF title in March 2016 at the $25k event in Campinas, Brazil, where she came through qualifying and defeated No. 157 Alizé Lim in the final. A month and a half later, she made her WTA main draw debut at the İstanbul Cup at the age of 15.[16] As a wildcard, she lost her opening-round match to Nao Hibino.[17] A year later, Yastremska was awarded another wildcard into the same tournament and defeated Andrea Petkovic for her first career WTA match win.[18] She made it to the quarterfinals, where she lost to Jana Čepelová despite having two chances to serve for the match.[19] Yastremska qualified for her only other WTA main draw of the year at the Nottingham Open, losing in the first round.[16] In September, Yastremska won an $60K title at the Ladies Open Dunakeszi.[20] With this title, she rose from No. 272 to No. 202 in the world.[21] Later that month, she defeated top seed and world No. 46, Donna Vekic, in the semifinals of the $100k Neva Cup, before losing to Belinda Bencic in the final.[20] This runner-up finish brought her into the top 200 for the first time at No. 174.[21] Yastremska also had a strong season in doubles, winning three ITF titles, including the $80k Prague Open with Anastasia Potapova.[22]

Yastremska had a slow start into the 2018 season. She lost in the second round of qualifying at the Australian Open. After injuring her ankle at the Mexican Open in February,[23] she did not enter any tournaments in March. With a ranking well outside of the top 100, she needed to enter qualifying at her first seven tournaments of the year, reaching three main draws.[16] At the last of these events, Yastremska produced her best result, finishing runner-up to Rebecca Peterson at the $100k Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer.[24] This result took her into the top 150 for the first time.[21] She also reached the final at the $100k Ilkley Trophy, losing to Tereza Smitková in a third-set tiebreak.[25] She did not enter the French Open and lost in the qualifying competition at Wimbledon.[16] During the second week of Wimbledon, Yastremska won the separate $60k Internazionale Antico Tiro a Volo in Rome. She defeated Potapova in the final in 45 minutes, only losing one game.[26] With this title, she made her debut in the top 100 at the age of 18.[21][27]

In the second half of the season, Yastremska had more success at the WTA level. She qualified for the Premier-level Connecticut Open where she upset No. 36, Danielle Collins, for her only main-draw match win.[28] The following week, she made her Grand Slam main-draw debut and was upset in her opening-round match by qualifier Karolína Muchová.[29] Yastremska made her breakthrough on the tour in her last two tournaments of the year. In October, she won her maiden WTA Tour title at the Hong Kong Open without dropping a set. She defeated three top 100 Chinese players in the event, including No. 40 Zhang Shuai and No. 24 Wang Qiang in the semifinals and final, respectively.[30] The following week, she returned to Europe and reached another semifinal at the Luxembourg Open. She recorded her first career top-20 victory against No. 13, Garbiñe Muguruza, before losing to Belinda Bencic in a third-set tiebreak.[31][32] With these two results, she rose from No. 110 at the start of the month to No. 58 by the end of the year.[21]

Yastremska continued to rise in the WTA rankings throughout the season, her first full year on the WTA Tour. After a quarterfinal appearance at the Hobart International, she won her first two Grand Slam main draw matches at the Australian Open before losing to Serena Williams in the third round.[33] At her next tournament, she won her second WTA title at the Hua Hin Championships in Thailand. She upset top seed Muguruza again in the quarterfinal, and then defeated Ajla Tomljanović in the final in a third-set tiebreak.[34] This title brought Yastremska to No. 34 in the world.[21] Following this title, however, she began to struggle and only tallied one match win in her next six tournaments in part due to playing through an ankle injury.[3][29]

In late May, Yastremska recovered to win another title at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. She upset No. 11, Aryna Sabalenka, in the semifinals and then defeated No. 24, Caroline Garcia, in another third-set tiebreak in a nearly three-hour match for the title.[35] While she lost her opening-round match at the French Open to Carla Suárez Navarro,[36] she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, her best Grand Slam result to date. She upset No. 28 Sofia Kenin before losing to Zhang Shuai.[37][38]

In the second half of the season, Yastremska produced another good performance at a major at the US Open, losing in the third round to compatriot and world No. 5, Elina Svitolina.[39] She then achieved her best Premier 5 result of the year, a quarterfinal at the Wuhan Open. During the event, Yastremska upset world No. 2, Karolína Plíšková, before losing to No. 7, Petra Kvitová.[40] Her win over Plíšková was her first career top-10 victory.[41] Yastremska followed up this performance with her best doubles result of the year. She partnered with Jeļena Ostapenko at the Premier Mandatory China Open and won four matches to reach the final. They upset top seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Barbora Strýcová in their second match before finishing runner-up to Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.[42][43] At the end of season, Yastremska unexpectedly qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy, the second-tier year-end championships, after several higher-ranked players withdrew from consideration. She was placed in a group with No. 20, Donna Vekić, and No. 10, Kiki Bertens. After both her and Bertens defeated Vekić in their opening matches,[44] Yastremska lost to Bertens and did not advance out of her group.[45] She finished the season at a career-high of No. 22 in the world.[21]

Yastremska had a strong start into the 2020 season. She reached the final at the Premier-level Adelaide International. During the event, she defeated three top-20 players, including No. 12 Aryna Sabalenka, before finishing runner-up to world No. 1, Ashleigh Barty, who won the title in her home country.[46] At the Australian Open, she beat Kaja Juvan in the first round, before falling to Caroline Wozniacki in the second, the Dane's final tournament victory before her retirement.

Ukraine played their Fed Cup Group I tournament in Estonia, where Yastremska was victorious in all three of her singles matches. She then lost in the first round in Dubai to Veronika Kudermetova, before falling to Garbiñe Muguruza in the third round in Doha. This was her last match before international tennis was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

International tennis resumed in Palermo in August, where Yastremska lost to Camila Giorgi in the singles quarterfinals. Moving to New York, she lost to Naomi Osaka in the third round of the relocated Cincinnati Premier-5 tournament before falling to Madison Brengle in the second round of the US Open. Returning to Europe, she lost to Simona Halep in the third round of the Italian Open and, in a big upset, to Daria Gavrilova in the first round of the French Open.

First-round losses in Ostrava and Linz completed a disappointing end to the season, one in which her only success in doubles was a win in the Fed Cup tie against Estonia. She lost in the first round of all six tournaments she played.

On 7 January 2021, the ITF announced that, in November 2020, Yastremska had tested positive for a metabolite of mesterolone, an anabolic steroid medication which is prohibited by WADA. The ITF announced that, as a result of testing positive for this banned substance, Yastremska shall be provisionally suspended, "pending determination of the charge against her at a full hearing".[47] That same day, Yastremska released a statement on Twitter, in which she denied the charges against her, asserting that she "[has] never used any performance-enhancing drugs or any prohibited substances", and that she believes the positive result to be as a result of scientific contamination. She further stated that she and her team are "resolutely determined to do everything to clear [her] name".[48] After travelling to Melbourne, she applied for her suspension by the ITF to be lifted; this request was denied by an independent tribunal on 23 January.[49] Her appeal against a doping ban was fast-tracked in order for her case to be resolved before the Australian Open, which began on 8 February 2021.[50] The CAS said it will make a decision by 3 February 2021.[50] On that date, the CAS announced that it had dismissed her appeal, and that the provisional suspension enforced by the ITF on 7 January would be upheld until the ITF reached a final decision.[51] After the CAS released their statement, Yastremska acknowledged the provisional suspension, but said that she couldn't "express [her] disappointment about not being able to take part in the first Slam of the year" due to her suspension. She also stated that she is "confident" that she and her team will "prove [her] innocence". She vowed to "clear my name".[52] The CAS announced on 27 April 2021 that a second application filed by Yastremska to lift her suspension had been denied,[53] and, on 7 May 2021, they announced that an appeal filed by Yastremska against the decision to not lift her provisional suspension had been dismissed, and that she would be ineligible for competition, "pending the final resolution of her case".[54]

On 22 June 2021, the ITF ruled that Yastremska "bore no fault or negligence" for the positive test result, and announced that her provisional suspension would be lifted with immediate effect. She would serve no period of ineligibility, and would be able to resume competition immediately.[55] Due to the late decision by the ITF, Yastremska was ineligible to compete at Wimbledon; as such, Yastremska returned to the tour at Hamburg. Playing as the top seed, she defeated Magdalena Fręch and Sara Errani, before being defeated by the qualifier and eventual champion Elena-Gabriela Ruse. Her next tournament was at the Tokyo Olympics, where she suffered two first-round defeats: to Leylah Fernandez in the singles event, and, partnering Elina Svitolina, to Alizé Cornet and Fiona Ferro of France in the doubles competition.

Her U.S. and Canadian tournaments saw little success with first-round losses at the Silicon Valley Classic, Canadian Open, and US Open and second-round losses at the San Diego Open, Chicago Fall Tennis Classic, and Indian Wells Open to eventual champion Paula Badosa. She retired in the first round at Portorož against eventual champion Jasmine Paolini. After losing in the first round at the Kremlin Cup, she reached the quarterfinals at the Courmayeur Ladies Open in a rematch against Paolini and lost in straight sets. Yastremska concluded her season with another rematch and loss against Paolini at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz. She finished year ranked inside the top 100 at 97.

This year marked Yastremska's first season opener in Australia since 2020. She was eliminated in the first round of qualifying at the Melbourne Summer Set 1 and in the first round of the main draw at the Adelaide International 2. Her Australian trip concluded with a retirement against Madison Brengle in the opening round at the Australian Open. Her ranking dropped to 150 at the conclusion of the Australian Open.[56]

Yastremska entered the main draw of the Dubai Championships as a qualifier, after winning three qualifying matches with the last a rematch against her Australian Open opponent Madison Brengle. There she reached the quarterfinals where she was defeated by Markéta Vondroušová. Shortly after the conclusion of this tournament marked the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Yastremska was living with her family in Odesa, Ukraine at the time of the invasion and was able to seek refuge in France along with her 15 year old sister Ivanna Yastremska.[57] The two received a wildcard entry for the Lyon Open where Yastremska was able to reach her first final since 2020. However, she was defeated by Zhang Shuai, in three sets. She accepted a wildcard entry into the Indian Wells Open and was defeated by former world No. 4, Caroline Garcia, in the first round. Her "Sunshine Double" (Miami and Indian Wells Opens) concluded with a retirement in the first round of qualifying in the Miami Open. After reaching the quarterfinals of the Copa Colsanitas, she reentered the top 100 in the singles rankings.

She played as Ukraine's top seed in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, in a tie against the United States. She defeated Jessica Pegula after having lost to Alison Riske in her first match of the qualifying tournament. Her clay-court season continued after the Copa Colsanitas by qualifying for the Madrid Open. She was defeated in the second round by Marie Bouzková.

Yastremska made her debut for Ukraine Fed Cup team at the 2019 Fed Cup. The team was playing a tie against the host country Poland in a third-place play-off for Europe/Africa Zone Group I. Although Yastremska won the second singles rubber against Iga Świątek, Ukraine lost the tie after failing to win either the first singles rubber or the decisive doubles rubber, the latter of which ended in a third-set tiebreak.[58]

Yastremska has been accused of gamesmanship by commentators and fellow players, and for allegedly exaggerating and faking injuries to exploit the medical time-out system. One such player was former world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki, following their second-round match at the 2020 Australian Open, where Yastremska took multiple medical time-outs throughout the match. Wozniacki stated in a post-match press conference that she "didn't think there was anything wrong" with Yastremska, and that "it's a trick she's done before, and [Wozniacki] knew it was coming", designed to "break [Wozniacki's] rhythm". She was widely criticised for doing so in the final at Hua Hin, as, trailing 5–2 in the third set against Ajla Tomljanović, she took three medical time-outs for a non-specific injury, rallying to win the third set, 7–6.[75] Yastremska has denied the allegations that she fakes injuries to exploit the medical time-out system, claiming that she only takes medical time-outs when she feels she needs them.