Dayana Yastremska returns to form at Roland Garros after illnesses derail spring results

ROME—Dayana Yastremska sounds vocally ragged throughout our chat at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. After eight minutes, the Ukrainian can hardly speak at all.

“I don’t know why, but after Australia I was getting sick so often,” she said in between coughs. “I’m not in my best shape now, but I’m trying to perform as much as I can, and I’m trying to bring my tennis level back up.”

The Ukrainian has largely made good on her promise to be ready for Roland Garros, defeating Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, who herself was making a comeback after undergoing a procedure to remove uterine fibroids, in the first round on Sunday.

Yastremska rallied from a set down to survive Tomljanovic, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, and was in full voice serving for the match, shouting a couple of “Come On!”s as she served out the match on a packed Court 14.

“I’m practicing the way I can,” she explained in Rome after another three-setter against Laura Siegemund. “Of course, I wish I could practice much more and better than I am right now, but I’m using everything that I can to play good tennis. It’s a little bit difficult to perform when you don’t feel 100%, but I’m feeling better with every day.”

Yastremska was feeling great to start the season, rolling through eight straight matches to reach the Australian Open semifinals as a qualifier—upsetting reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and two-time Melbourne winner Victoria Azarenka en route.

But within a week of her defeat to Zheng Qinwen, the 24-year-old was back on court for her next event in Linz, and Yastremska wondered if the quick turnaround contributed to running down her immune system. She retired four games into her BNP Paribas Open match against Emma Raducanu, and only felt worse as the clay-court season got underway.

“Before my match in Charleston, I got sick,” she recalled. “I had pain in my throat. I went back to Nice, where I was practicing, and took one week off. My nose was completely blocked! I was practicing slowly, and then I went to Madrid, where I got a cough and my nose was blocked again. So, I went back to Nice, took a couple days off to get my body adjusted.

“I needed to adjust some things in my…organism, I don’t even know!” she joked, choking out a baffled laugh. “I didn’t have much time because I needed to prepare here for Rome. I came here and my nose was good, but I started to cough again. So, I hope that I’ll feel better, but for now, I have what I have.”

I also do enjoy playing on clay because it’s the kind of season where you need to make improvements in your game. You need to work on your variation and to play a little bit more clever. Dayana Yastremska

Her fighting spirit did not appear dampened by the ailments, helping her win tough matches in Madrid and Rome over Emiliana Arango and Siegemund, who led Yastremska by a set and a break at the latter. She looked more solid in her next match at the Foro Italico but bowed out in the third round to No. 2 seed and eventual finalist Aryna Sabalenka.

A streaky player who lost seven straight Grand Slam matches before her breakout run Down Under, Yastremska admitted to preferring quicker surfaces than clay, having never won a match on the terre battue (0-4) before facing Tomljanovic.

“Clay is a little bit specific for players like me, who like to play a fast game,” she said. “But I also do enjoy playing on clay because it’s the kind of season where you need to make improvements in your game. You need to work on your variation and to play a little bit more clever. It’s interesting now, to see how I will be dealing with all these matches where you play, not the way you want, but the way you have to in order to perform well on clay courts.”

Yastremska also continues to deal with the emotional fallout of the Russian and Belarusian invasion into Ukraine, recording a charity single, “Hearts,” to raise awareness for those affected by the ongoing conflict.

“We released it on the two-year anniversary of the war,” said Yastremska, who has made music her hobby over the last five years with the release of other, more pop-oriented, songs. “It was a reminder of the war, about human people, about how violence affects children. That was the message behind my words; it was about how strong children are, and how they can still live their lives during this hard period in Ukraine.”

Her voice was nearly gone at this point, but Yastremska is managing to make herself heard in Paris, and, provided she stays healthy, will likely have more to say in 2024.