Dayana Yastremska overcame an ankle injury scare, blisters and the powerful hitting Venus Williams in her opening match at the Western and Southern Open.
The 16th seed required just over two-and-a-half hours to see off 40-year-old Williams 5-7, 6-2, 7-5, at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center which is hosting the event this yeast due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the roller-coaster clash, Yastremska broke her rival 11 times in total who struggled behind her serve. Williams’ first serve percentage was 55% and she only won 45% of her second. The Ukrainian also produced 39 winners compared to her opponent’s tally of 11.
“I’m very happy that I won and same time very sad because I had a really good opportunity in the first set,” Yastremska told reporters after the match. “But when I twisted my ankle, to be honest, my mind completely went the other way. I started to think just about the pain, how I twisted, and what is going to be next. So, you know, I didn’t even play like the end of the first set.”
The injury scare came during the first set when the match was level at 4-4 but that wasn’t the only test Yastremska encountered. She was also dealing with toe blisters and looked to be on the verge of going out in the decider after falling behind 2-4. Despite the blip, she battled back once again to level before going on to break Williams two times in a row en route to victory.
“I took the medicine timeout, and I really tried to be focused on the game. You know, I really wanted to withdraw after the first game when I lost, but after that, the second game when I was serving, I told myself that I’m not going to withdraw, that I’m going to play to the end,” she said about her ankle roll.
“It doesn’t matter how it’s going to finish, but I have to finish that match. I really have to deal with the pain.
“And of course I didn’t really feel my leg, because it was taped, but I felt the pain like from inside. So it wasn’t really easy.”
Former world No.1 Williams has now failed to win back-to-back matches at nine consecutive tournaments, including five this year. The last time she reached a Tour quarter-final was at the Cincinnati Open last August.
“It was a good match,” said Williams. “First round is always, you know, the challenge, trying to get your rhythm. She played well. Just was a little better in the end on the points.”
Yastremska will take on Bernarda Pera in the second round. Pera downed Britain’s Heather Watson 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
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