Inspired by the debut Kasatkina: how Russia’s first racket made it to the top

Fall and rise

25-year-old Daria Kasatkina is at the so-called prime age and is probably close to reaching the peak of her career.

The Russian tennis player was fine five years ago. He then made a splash in 2018 by gaining a teen star status and climbing the last spot on the WTA world ten rankings.

But then it was a real failure. The next two years, Daria would probably prefer to wipe her memory. She started 2019 with four losses and won two matches in a tournament for the first time at the Masters in Rome in mid-May. True, this was not the beginning of the ascension.

Then Kasatkina continued her streak of failure, only doing better once until the end of the season, passing three rounds at the Masters in Beijing at the junction of September and October. She also won only one game in Grand Slam tournaments that year, she.

2020 turned out a little better, even better. Again, he took just one victory in the Majors (again in the first round of Roland Garros), where he played once in the semifinals of the WTA 250 category tournament.

True, there was a Masters in Rome where Kasatkina won four meetings as she had to go through two elimination stages as she dropped so much in the rating. In general, the young tennis player’s star seemed to have sunk before it really rose.

But last season it started to come back. He immediately took the WTA 250 title in Melbourne in February, and in March he won the St. She won the 500th category tournament in St. Petersburg.

He went two rounds at Roland Garros, won one game at Wimbledon and two games at the US Open, and was in the finals of two more tournaments, including San Jose, which he won the year before.

bright season

This title was the first for the Russian woman this season, but she spends it all at a very high level. There is a lot of real evidence for this.

After winning the title in San Jose, Daria has won 32 wins this year, placing her in third place in this indicator behind Romania’s Simona Halep and Tunisia’s Ons Jaber (37) and world No. 1 Poland’s Iga Sventek (46). .

Kasatkina defeated the representatives of the top 5 ratings five times in 2021, moving to third place in the championship race, only behind the completely unattainable Shventek and Zhaber.

In last year’s WTA ranking, Kasatkina placed ninth since the new week, and this is her new personal record.

In addition, for the first time in his career, the Russian tennis player in Roland Garros reached the semifinals of the Grand Slam tournament, losing only to the same Shventek. Who knows, maybe Daria could have given a strong performance at the Australian Open, but then Schwentek met her already on the road in the third round (1/16 final).

Tennis players and tennis players representing Russia at Wimbledon were not allowed, but there is not much time left for the final Grand Slam tournament of the season, the US Open, and Kasatkina can put on a very strong performance there.

get inspired by a girl

There are actually many reasons for Kasatkina’s transformation. Work here and with coach Carlos Martinez, under whose leadership Svetlana Kuznetsova once achieved great success.

Kasatkina herself has become more psychologically stable, and her healthy ambitions push the athlete forward.

“I’m not 18 anymore. You can’t count on the fact that I’m young and still have time. No, I’m 25 years old, now I have to act. I need to show off everything I’ve earned over the years. “I think it’s time to give more than take,” he said.

It may have been a coincidence, but the Russian woman won her first title the year after she came out, citing her relationship with another famous Russian athlete, Olympic silver medalist in figure skating, Natalya Zabiyako.

The girls live in Barcelona and now they are not afraid to share photos together, they are enjoying their free life.

“I don’t know how social media filters work but I’ve only seen good things. Kasatkina, not only from the West, but also from people in my country, recently told the official WTA website about the reaction to her disclosures about her personal life.

– I am so happy. I found it not only good for me, but also helping other people. It’s great and I feel great. I feel more free and happy. I think I made the right move. There is such a situation in the world, if not now, when?

By the way, she commented on the success of her partner and Zabiyako and dedicated a post to Kasatkina on her social network.

“It’s hard to perform and compete, but how hard it is to root and worry about the people you love! I am very happy for you, ”wrote the figure skater, who completed her career.