Kayla Day has spoken about her injuries and working with Pat Cash after stunning Madison Keys 6-2 4-6 6-4 at Roland Garros.
The world number 138 is into the third round after producing a stunning performance to edge out top 20 player Madison Keys.
It was a stunning win for Day who had to qualify for the event before defeating Kristina Mladenovic in the opening round.
After the match Day admitted it was an amazing victory and talked about the improvement in her movement on clay, “It was a really tough match. It feels amazing to be in the third round,” Day said in her press conference.
“Madison is an incredible player. To get my first top-20 win at Roland Garros, it’s just amazing. I think I just kept fighting until the end, and I played really good defense at really important points. So I think that’s what got me the win today.
“I think I worked so hard to improve my movement on clay, so I think I feel really comfortable on the clay now. I think that’s helped make the biggest
difference in my game to play at this level.”
It’s an incredible win for Day who is into the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.
Day’s comeback to the tour has been a rollercoaster ride having broken through on the WTA tour in 2017, the American has been through injuries and obstacles in order to get back to level.
The American spoke about the challenges facing her during that time and how the pandemic complicated things even further, “I broke through pretty young at like 17, and then I had a lot of injuries, dealt with a lot of other issues,” Day revealed.
“It just means so much to me to be back at this level. I have worked so hard to get back here. I have really grinded my way back. So it just, I think it means so much to me, so much more to me now that I’ve had my struggles but overcame them.
“I had a ton of injuries, and I also had mono, which made me feel not so well for a very long time. I tore my quad. I fractured my foot. I tore both labrums in my hip. So it was just a lot of bad luck, one thing after another.
“Then by the time I was trying to like make a comeback or I was feeling a lot better, it was COVID. It was really difficult, because all my injuries were, like, I would be out for three, four months, and I never took a protected ranking, so it was so hard for me to come back.
“Every time I tried coming back, it just felt like something else would happen. So then when I started feeling good, it was in 2020 during COVID, and they cancelled all the tournaments and my ranking had dropped to like 600 at that point.
“So it was really tough to even try to get into a tournament to try to play. I think in 2020 I played like three tournaments or something. So it’s just, yeah, like I said, a lot of bad luck and bad timing.”
Day’s path back to the tour has been a painful one having to go through so many obstacles in one go.
However the American’s resilience and fortitude has paid off as she breaks new ground in Paris.
One person who is to thank for Day’s run this week is former Grand Slam champion Pat Cash who has been working with the American.
Day revealed in her press conference that her and Cash have been working for a while, “Well, Pat Cash, who’s here with me, he’s just completely changed my idea on movement and the way I move,” Day explained.
“We did a lot of work before the clay season started together. So he’s made probably the biggest difference in my movement, especially on my backhand side. Before I couldn’t even really hit an open-stance backhand, so he helped me through that, basically.
“He was coaching another player. I don’t want to mess up her name, but Qi Wang. They were training out in California a little bit in 2021 in the offseason and we hit together a few times. From there I kind of saw him around and we, you know, would be friendly with each other.
“Then this year in Australia he offered to help me a little bit before my other coach came. Ever since then it’s just been kind of, we’ve been working together, and it’s been great.”
The partnership has clearly worked as she has achieved her best ever Grand Slam result in Paris.
Next for Day is Anna Karolina Schmiedlova as she looks to reach the second week of Roland Garros.