Dayana Yastremska faces Coco Gauff fourth on Centre Court on Tuesday and the Ukrainian star won’t just be battling one of the title favourites – but also her grass allergy. After reaching the final of the Nottingham Open last month, Yastremska admitted that she struggled on this traditional British surface.
Results may say otherwise, as she also progressed to the quarter-finals at Eastbourne last week. But a 25-year-old will hope the immaculate green turn on Centre Court doesn’t give her any issues when she steps out to take on Gauff.
“I really love playing on grass, even though I think I have a bit of an allergy to grass!” Yastremska said in Nottingham. “I’m very excited, and I was proud of myself. In general everything worked pretty well.
“I can’t wait to play in the finals tomorrow. Finally I won’t be playing at 11am, which I’ve been doing all week, so I can sleep tomorrow a little bit more!”
Yastremska has a decent pedigree at Grand Slam tournaments. She reached the Australian Open semi-finals last year, and her best result at SW19 came in 2019 with a fourth-round run.
The world No.43 also has a second career as a singer under the pseudonym DY. She released her first single ‘Thousands of Me’ during lockdown in 2020 and more recently produced ‘Hearts’, which is a tribute to her native Ukraine.
Yastremska fled her family home in 2022 due to Russia’s invasion and sough refuge in France.
Meanwhile, Gauff is playing down her title chances and has set the bar low.
“Yeah, I mean, the next goal coming up, obviously to have a good result here. I’ve lost in the fourth round a few times, so I would love to get past that stage. Yeah, I would say that’s the next thing I’m looking forward to,” Gauff said.
“I would love to win this, but I’m a big believer in just conquering one step at a time. If I get past that stage, then I’ll start thinking about the winning.”
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