Daria Gavrilova, who has reached the semifinal in Rome for the first time, said that she admired former No. 1's Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis when she was very young.
“They’re both very talented,” she told Australian Tennis Magazine. “For me, they were my idols and I really wanted to play like them since I was little. Now I think I’m doing something similar to Kim and I have some similarities to Martina. Obviously I need to work a lot on that but I don’t want to be just like them. I have to be myself.”
The 21-year-old faces Maria Sharapova in the semifinals. The former Russian turned Australian upset Sharapova in the first round of Miami. “I have been dreaming about beating Maria since I was probably 12 when I saw her win Wimbledon, when she beat Serena,” she said. “I mean, she was my idol. She’s obviously Russian. She’s just huge in Russia.”