Qualifier Dayana Yastremska reaches Australian Open semis

Field Level Media|published: Tue 23rd January, 23:02 2024

Jan 20, 2024; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine plays a shot against Emma Navarro (not pictured) of the United States in Round 3 of the Women's Singles on Day 6 of the Australian Open tennis at John Cain Arena. credits: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports

Dayana Yastremska defeated Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-4 in an Australian Open quarterfinal on Wednesday, becoming the first qualifier to reach the semifinals in Melbourne since 1978.

The 23-year-old Ukrainian finished off the 19-year-old Czech player in 1 hour, 18 minutes. Yastremska won 76 percent of her first serves and three of five break points.

She became the first qualifier to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Christine Dorey in 1978.

After the match, Yastremska said, "I think it's nice to make history because at that time I still wasn't born. I was born in 2000. So it's the next generation. I'm super happy."

In the semifinals, Yastremska will face the winner of the last quarterfinal featuring unseeded Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and No. 12 seed Qinwen Zheng of China.

Yastremska was coming off a straight-sets upset over 18th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. She has also knocked off No. 7 seed Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic and No. 27 Emma Navarro of the United States in the main draw at Melbourne.

After needing three sets to get through all three of her qualifying matches, Yastremska has dropped only one set total in five main-draw matches.

—Field Level Media

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