Ukraine star Dayana Yastremska fought to overturn a wrongful doping ban while also fleeing war in her homeland in a tumultuous few years… now she wants Australian Open glory

In 2020, the route to the final stages of a Grand Slam seemed straight and smooth for 19-year-old Dayana Yastremska, who was already ranked in the top 25 in the world. In the intervening years, that road has taken some scary turns.

First in 2021, when she failed a doping test and was provisionally suspended. After six months of protesting her innocence, it was decided that she was not guilty and her ban was lifted.

In 2022, when Vladimir Putin’s tanks rolled into Ukraine, she and her sister fled to Paris, leaving their parents at home in Odessa.

And yet here she is: a major quarterfinalist for the first time and three wins away from Emma Raducanu as the second qualifier to win a Slam.

The Ukrainian defeated Belarusian Victoria Azarenka – twice winner of this title – 7-6, 6-4, and will next face Linda Noskova.

Countrywoman Marta Kostyuk is also ready and was scheduled to play Coco Gauff tonight. Perspective is a powerful force in sports and there is no doubt that the horrific invasion of their homeland has lit a fire under the Ukrainian players.

Yastremska, 23, said: ‘I am proud of Marta. I am proud of us, of the Ukrainians, and we are showing good results. She also had to deal with playing Russians.”

Yet there is another side to this coin, and Yastremska has struggled with the pressure of representing her nation. ‘I put pressure on myself. In the sense that it is war and I have to show better results for Ukraine,” she said. ‘I didn’t just play for myself. I have decided not to exert any pressure from this year onwards. Be who you are and we’ll see how it goes.’

So far things are going very well indeed, and in a wide open top half of the draw, Yastremska’s attacking play gives her a chance to make the final.