Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska said the support she has received since escaping Russian bombings last week has helped her reach the final of the Lyon Open.
The 21-year-old collapsed to her knees in tears after beating Romanian Sorana Cirstea 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4 to reach Sunday’s decider against Zhang Shuai.
Yastremska is competing in the WTA event having fled her home city of Odessa following Russia’s invasion.
“Because of you I am here still winning,” she told the crowd.
Former world number 21 Yastremska previously described how she was “woken up by bombs” in Odessa before crossing the Danube by boat to reach Romania.
On 25 February, Yastremska wrote on Instagram that she and her 15-year-old sister Ivanna had been forced to leave their parents behind in Ukraine.
Three days later, the pair competed in doubles in Lyon and while beaten in the first round in that competition, she has gone a remarkable run in the singles tournament.
Yastremska appeared to be cruising to her first WTA final since 2019 when she was 3-0 up in the second set against Cirstea in the semi-final, but she went on to lose six of the next seven games as the Romanian levelled the match.
The Ukrainian served for the match at 5-3 in the third set but could not convert them and Cirstea broke back, only for Yastremska to immediately break Cirstea again to seal victory in two hours and 31 minutes.
“In the third set, when I had match points and I lost that game, I was a bit crazy. I thought, ‘I’m done, I’ve lost’, because I don’t have any more power. And then everybody was supporting me, supporting me, and I felt like, ‘you can do it’.
“When I posted pictures on Instagram that I left my home, I got a lot of messages from French people and from all over the world. But when I arrived here, I didn’t expect I would get that huge support.”
