In the last eight, the 23-year-old will play world No. 50 Linda Noskova, who advanced to her maiden major quarterfinals when Elina Svitolina, who was battling lower back issues, retired from the match after three games. Yastremska is the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open.
Yastremska is the first woman to make the singles quarterfinals of the Australian Open since Zhang Shuai in 2016.
The Ukrainian just missed the direct entry cut and was the No. 1 seed in qualifying stage. In the main draw, the 23-year-old stunned the No. 7 seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova for the loss of three games in the first round.
“Super happy and super tired,” Yastremska said.
“First quarterfinals, has to be like so special, but it feels I’ve just done (only a) small part of what I had to do. So, moving forward and looking forward for my next match.
“I thought I had lost this match like 25 times,” Yastremska said.
“Sometimes, you get these kinds of thoughts, I was down 3-5 and she had set point (first set). So, I accepted that I lost it already and that helped me to continue to play. I felt like I have another chance to win.”
Qualifier Dayana Yastremska’s point-precise tennis helped her score a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win over two-time champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus at the Australian Open on Monday, powering the Ukrainian into the first Grand Slam quarterfinals of her career.
Yastremska, the world No. 93, fought off set points in the first set and came back from a break down in the second set to score over former world No. 1 Azarenka on Rod Laver Arena.
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