On Day 2 of the 2024 Australian Open, Dayana Yastremska produced the biggest upset of the event so far, dispatching No.7 seed Marketa Vondrousova in commanding fashion. The Ukrainian, a former world No.21 and a qualifier this year, dominated the reigning Wimbledon champion with a swift 6-1 6-2 victory, marking the first Top 10 upset of the competition.
The 23-year-old Yastremska hit 26 winners compared to Vondrousova’s five and broke serve five times. The world No.93 finally ended her streak of consecutive first-round exits in the past seven Grand Slam tournaments, as Vondrousova struggled on serve throughout, hitting seven double faults and failing to find her rhythm. Yastremska, who endured a six-month doping accusation ordeal in 2021, will play the second round of a major for the first time since the 2020 US Open.
This triumph marks Yastremska’s fourth career win against a Top 10 player, and notably, her first at a Grand Slam. It has to be said that Vondrousova was playing her first tournament of the season, having missed last week’s Adelaide International due to a right hip injury.
During the post-match interview, Yastremska emotionally addressed the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, sharing a personal story about a rocket hitting her grandmother’s house while she was…
