Yastremska reaches Nottingham final despite grass allergy
NOTTINGHAM, June 21 (Reuters) - Dayana Yastremska says she has an allergy to grass but became the first Ukrainian player to reach a WTA Tour final on the surface for 17 years after a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Poland's Magda Linette at the Nottingham Open on Saturday.
Yastremska will seek her first WTA title since 2019, when she faces American McCartney Kessler on Sunday.
"I really love playing on grass, even though I think I have a bit of an allergy to grass," she said.
"I'm very excited, and I was proud of myself. In general everything worked pretty well. I can't wait to play in the finals tomorrow. Finally I won't be playing at 11 am, which I've been doing all week, so I can sleep tomorrow a little bit more!"
Kessler, who only recorded her first career grass court win last week, beat Rebecca Sramkova 6-4 6-2.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
In the Arena: Serena Williams review – there is just no one in the world that matches up to her (and her sister)
Serena Williams, holder of 39 grand slam titles and four Olympic gold medals, who spent 319 weeks as tennis's world No 1 and became the highest-earning female athlete in history, never thought she was that good when she was a young player. That was because she was always training against her older sister, Venus ('she was the prodigy of prodigies'), the only person in the world who could really challenge her. A year younger, Serena remembers being shorter and weaker and resorting to cheating on line calls at practice so she could occasionally beat her. In the Arena: Serena Williams (the title comes from President Roosevelt's 1910 speech to the Sorbonne – 'It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena' so, yes, consider me told) is an eight-part docuseries that covers Serena's rise and rise over her 27-year tennis career before she retired three years ago. Since then, incidentally, she has been busy with her venture capital firm, production company, body care and pain relief startup, beauty line and raising two children. Honestly, it's like looking in a mirror, is it not? In the Arena was executive produced by Serena and is clearly meant to be the definitive version of events. It would be too strong to call it hagiographic, but it is a full-blooded celebration of her achievements. It is not the place to come if you want, for example, an interrogation of the techniques used by the sisters' astonishing father and coach, Richard Williams, to mould two champions. 'My dad was a marketing genius,' says Serena of his marshalling of press attention round his children in the early years, regardless, some might say and have said, of the psychological impact. 'There's a very thin line between parent and coach … But I would say at the end it was all worth it,' is as far as Serena goes here in acknowledging the criticism Richard has faced for his intense focus on their professional success. Then it's on to the good stuff. The sisters turning pro – Venus flying from the start, Serena stumbling slightly before she too took off. The beating of rivals and established stars ('I was determined, determined to take her down … I'm coming for you. I'm coming for everyone') and their swift domination of a game that had hitherto been almost solely the preserve of a white, moneyed elite. 'Little sisters from Compton. Can't really take that too seriously, right?' Inevitably, of course, they begin to meet in grand slam finals. The footage – the grace, the power of them – is astonishing. Almost as astonishing, if in a gradually emerging way, is the grace with which they handle the competition between them, the wins and the losses. Serena talks about benefiting from Venus going first in everything, from turning pro, to handling good and bad press, to playing individuals Serena will later face in tournaments. They talk with sincerity about being pleased for each other's wins even as they mourn and analyse their own losses. And they talk about the bifurcation between life as sisters and life as absolutely dedicated competitors and not letting either one infect the other. They warmed up together before their first joint grand slam final, the 2001 US Open. Venus won. 'I can't say I enjoyed it. I did what I had to do.' 'I wasn't happy,' adds Serena. 'But I was OK. She was the phenom. It was never me.' Her turn would come. She learned to pretend she was playing someone else when it was Venus on the other side of the net. By the time Wimbledon rolled round a year later, she was ready to be No 1. 'I gotta have it,' Serena grins, remembering. 'That's what I need in my life. Because it's just an extension of who I was. As Thanos says: I was inevitable. I couldn't stop the roll.' Nor could anyone – including the haters behind the racial and misogynist abuse she dealt with – or anything, including the difficult birth of her first child, in 2017, which nearly killed her. She retired in 2022, and plunged straight into what is already a highly successful and lucrative second act. It would be fascinating to compare and contrast another pair of sisters or – perhaps even more fascinatingly – a pair of brothers who followed the same trajectory. Would they have stayed so close, maintained the same boundaries between love and work, or would they have disappeared under the pressure of competition? Would they have spurred each other on to greater heights in the same way, or destroyed each other? Would they remain such generous supporters of each other, or have combusted by now? What makes the mind not just of a champion – but of a champion who survives the ride intact? Maybe one day we'll find out. But there is as yet nothing to compare to Serena or to Venus separately, let alone together. In the Arena: Serena Williams airs on BBC One and is on iPlayer now
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
Injured Ruud pulls out of Wimbledon
June 21 (Reuters) - Norway's Casper Ruud has pulled out of Wimbledon as he is still struggling to recover from a knee injury, his management told local media on Saturday. The world No. 16 and two-time French Open finalist suffered a shock second-round exit at the claycourt major last month, losing to unseeded Nuno Borges of Portugal. Afterwards he said he had been struggling with a knee injury for some time and he has not been in action on the men's tour since, withdrawing from the grasscourt event in Mallorca. "He's back on the court, and things are going well, but it looks like playing best-of-five sets is unfortunately a bit too soon. Gstaad will be next for Casper now," manager Tina Falster told NTB. Ruud's best showing at Wimbledon is three second-round appearances. Wimbledon starts on June 30, while the Swiss Open in Gstaad begins on July 14.
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Vondrousova stuns Sabalenka to reach Berlin Open final
Marketa Vondrousova beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka at the Berlin Open to reach her first final since winning the 2023 Wimbledon title. Vondrousova, who has been working her way back from shoulder surgery and is ranked 164th in the world, came through 6-2 6-4 and will play Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu in Sunday's showpiece in Germany."I didn't play for a long time. I am just happy to be back healthy and so grateful to play these matches," Czech Vondrousova said on the WTA Tour website."When I saw the field here, I was like, 'OK, let's just try to win the first round' and then, you know, now this is happening."Sabalenka saved two break points in the opening game but was broken in her second service game and again to trail 5-2 in the first three-time Grand Slam champion sealed a break at the first time of asking to lead 2-0 in the second but Vondrousova hit back immediately.A tense scrap ensued with the set staying on serve until 25-year-old Vondrousova broke for 5-4 and then served out the beat 2021 Berlin Open champion Liudmila Samsonova 6-4 6-1 in the other semi-final to reach her first WTA singles final."This week has been a dream for me," Wang said. "Coming into every match, I wasn't expecting anything, it was really just to enjoy the stage." Medvedev sees off second seed Zverev In another of the grass-court events leading up to Wimbledon, Daniil Medvedev held off a fightback from world number three Alexander Zverev to win 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 and reach Sunday's Halle Open will be a first final in 15 months for Medvedev, who will take on world number 45 Alexander Bublik after the Kazakh beat eighth seed Karen Khachanov 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4. After taking the opening set against Zverev on a tie-break, world number 11 Medvedev wasted three match points in the second set, and required three hours and one minute to get the job done."I am happy with my level, I played great," Medvedev said. "I would have loved to finish on the match points [in the second set]. The first one I went for it and missed it. "The second one I went a bit slower to wait for a mistake and he made a great point. I am happy to win in the end."As was the case during his quarter-final victory on Friday, Medvedev needed treatment for a nosebleed at 4-4 in the opening Russian has lost five ATP finals in succession, with his last triumph coming at the Italian Open in May 2023.
