Latest news with #DariaSaville
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
French Open 2025: Madison Keys breezes past Daria Saville in first-round matchup
Madison Keys picked up a win in the first round of the French Open. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP) (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images) Madison Keys is building on her Australian Open win. The American got off an to encouraging start at the 2025 French Open on Monday, beating Daria Saville in the first round. The win was expected for Keys, who came into the event as the No. 7 ranked women's player. Keys earned that ranking after beating both Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek — the No. 1 and No. 2 women's players respectively — to win the Australian Open. Advertisement Keys breezed through Monday's match, winning in two sets (6-2, 6-1). With the win, Keys becomes to highest-ranked American woman to make it out of the first round so far. Emma Navarro entered the 2025 French Open ranked No. 9, but suffered a shocking upset against Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the first round Monday. The two American women ranked higher than Keys, No. 2 Coco Gauff and No. 3 Jessica Pegula, won't take the court until Tuesday. Keys, 30, is a veteran compared to some of the other highly ranked players at the 2025 French Open. She turned pro as a 14-year-old, and there's an argument she's playing her best tennis right now. Keys' win at the 2025 Australian Open marked her first-ever Grand Slam victory. She nearly won the US Open in 2017, falling to fellow American Sloane Stephens in the final. Keys will look to capitalize on her Australian Open win with a deep run at the French Open. With the win, she'll take on Katie Boulter in the second round Wednesday.
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘I am free and happy': Daria Kasatkina has no regrets ahead of first grand slam as Australian
When Daria Kasatkina announced that she had officially switched allegiance from Russia to Australia, she picked up her phone soon after to be greeted with whoops of delight from another Australian player, Daria Saville. 'I was not telling anyone before it came out,' Kasatkina says to Guardian Australia on the eve of the 2025 French Open. 'Dasha called me straightaway and she was so excited. She was so happy for me and I felt so happy because she was super-happy for me. 'It was so natural and now we're real neighbours. I could not have a better neighbour. She's always happy, she's one of the happiest people, I've known her a long time, but it's special that she feels so happy for me. And now we're part of one team.' Saville knows better than most what it is like to switch national and sporting allegiance, having done so in 2014 and going on to marry Australian tennis player Luke Saville and become a citizen. Long-time friends, Saville is now helping Kasatkina to find a place to live near her own home in Melbourne. 'Well, she's trying,' Kasatkina says. 'She's sending me locations, everything. I have to look deeper into it.' Changing nationality was not a decision that came easy to Kasatkina, but one she felt she had to take. One of the few Russian-born players to publicly condemn the country's invasion of Ukraine, the fact that she is openly gay means she can't live the life she wants to in the nation of her birth. When the opportunity to become an Australian citizen, an idea first broached by her agent, John Morris, to Tennis Australia during this year's Australian Open, she jumped at the chance. Official meetings followed and forms were completed, if not exactly by Kasatkina herself. 'I don't know the exact details because I was not doing the applications,' she says with a laugh. 'As a professional athlete, we're never doing this stuff.' Luckily, there were no awkward questions and the process was swift, with Kasatkina becoming a permanent resident of Australia on 29 March. 'Of course it's a big decision,' she says, adding that her family were happy as long as she is happy. 'It's never easy to do something like that. But I am very conscious when I am making this step that I know this is better for my future. I ended up in the situation where I have to make this choice. It's unfortunate, but I had to make it and I'm happy with the decision. 'Honestly, in the past couple of months, I have become a much happier person. I feel like a lot of weight has dropped off my shoulders. I am free and happy. For me this is the most important thing and … I feel this decision is right.' Australia is happy too, with Kasatkina immediately boosting their credentials as a top-20 player. The 28-year-old's results have been up and down since the change, but she is a proven world-class performer, a former semi-finalist at Roland Garros and someone equally adept on grass. Totally comfortable with her decision, the only thing Kasatkina still finds a little strange is when the tournament MCs introduce her as being from Australia. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'I'm still getting used to it,' she says. 'It's a great feeling to represent a country like Australia. It's just something to get used to, I guess. I'm very happy with how everyone welcomed me. The first couple of times it did feel a bit strange. Also to see this beautiful flag next to me, I'm getting more used to it, because at the beginning in the schedule I was a bit confused, but now it's becoming better.' Being Australia's No 1, and suddenly having an entire new nation behind her, is a fresh experience and even for someone as experienced as Kasatkina, it's something extra to deal with. 'It's maybe a little bit of additional pressure, especially when I stepped on court for that first match,' she says. 'That was a lot of pressure. But I'm just going and playing every match like before. It's adding maybe a little pressure but we are facing pressure every single day.' Kasatkina has not had the best of clay-court seasons; in fact she has won just two matches in three tournaments since her switch was announced. But as one of the most talented players on the WTA Tour, with more variety than most, she knows that it could take just one good performance to flick a switch. 'You're going to have ups and downs,' she says, ahead of a first-round match with the Czech, Katerina Siniakova. 'You can be super-ready and still not win many matches and then, next couple of weeks, you may not be feeling amazing, but still somehow you're there. That's normal. I just keep working, I keep pushing and sooner or later, the results will come. I'm very positive about that.'
The Advertiser
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Daria Saville is last Aussie hope in Paris qualifying
Of the 15 Australian hopefuls who started the week in the qualifying tournament at the French Open, only battle-hardened Daria Saville is still left in the hunt for one of the precious Roland Garros main draw places. The 31-year-old battler had too much know-how on the Paris clay for a promising young Frenchwoman 15 years her junior, Daphnee Mpetshi-Perricard, in the second round of quallies as she eased through 6-2 6-1 on Thursday. If the world No.134 can next defeat the equally experienced American Taylor Townsend in Friday's make-or-break third-round qualifier, she'll make it into the Roland Garros main draw for the ninth time, 10 years since her debut on the Paris red clay. Back in 2015, the Russian-born Daria Gavrilova was just embarking on her career representing Australia, just as another 'Dasha' - her great friend Daria Kasatkina - will be doing this year. If she makes it through, Saville, who's twice reached the third round at Roland Garros, will take the Australian contingent in the main draw to 16, the most in recent memory. But there'll be no more men joining the 10 who've already made it after Jason Kubler, one set down when the rains came on Wednesday, couldn't complete his comeback against Japan's James Trotter, eventually going down 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-3. The other two remaining Australian women in the draw, Astra Sharma and Talia Gibson, struggled when their second round matches, also held over, finally got under way on Thursday. Sharma lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to Spain's Leyre Romero Gormaz, while Gibson went down 6-4 6-1 to Argentine Julia Riera. Of the 15 Australian hopefuls who started the week in the qualifying tournament at the French Open, only battle-hardened Daria Saville is still left in the hunt for one of the precious Roland Garros main draw places. The 31-year-old battler had too much know-how on the Paris clay for a promising young Frenchwoman 15 years her junior, Daphnee Mpetshi-Perricard, in the second round of quallies as she eased through 6-2 6-1 on Thursday. If the world No.134 can next defeat the equally experienced American Taylor Townsend in Friday's make-or-break third-round qualifier, she'll make it into the Roland Garros main draw for the ninth time, 10 years since her debut on the Paris red clay. Back in 2015, the Russian-born Daria Gavrilova was just embarking on her career representing Australia, just as another 'Dasha' - her great friend Daria Kasatkina - will be doing this year. If she makes it through, Saville, who's twice reached the third round at Roland Garros, will take the Australian contingent in the main draw to 16, the most in recent memory. But there'll be no more men joining the 10 who've already made it after Jason Kubler, one set down when the rains came on Wednesday, couldn't complete his comeback against Japan's James Trotter, eventually going down 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-3. The other two remaining Australian women in the draw, Astra Sharma and Talia Gibson, struggled when their second round matches, also held over, finally got under way on Thursday. Sharma lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to Spain's Leyre Romero Gormaz, while Gibson went down 6-4 6-1 to Argentine Julia Riera. Of the 15 Australian hopefuls who started the week in the qualifying tournament at the French Open, only battle-hardened Daria Saville is still left in the hunt for one of the precious Roland Garros main draw places. The 31-year-old battler had too much know-how on the Paris clay for a promising young Frenchwoman 15 years her junior, Daphnee Mpetshi-Perricard, in the second round of quallies as she eased through 6-2 6-1 on Thursday. If the world No.134 can next defeat the equally experienced American Taylor Townsend in Friday's make-or-break third-round qualifier, she'll make it into the Roland Garros main draw for the ninth time, 10 years since her debut on the Paris red clay. Back in 2015, the Russian-born Daria Gavrilova was just embarking on her career representing Australia, just as another 'Dasha' - her great friend Daria Kasatkina - will be doing this year. If she makes it through, Saville, who's twice reached the third round at Roland Garros, will take the Australian contingent in the main draw to 16, the most in recent memory. But there'll be no more men joining the 10 who've already made it after Jason Kubler, one set down when the rains came on Wednesday, couldn't complete his comeback against Japan's James Trotter, eventually going down 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-3. The other two remaining Australian women in the draw, Astra Sharma and Talia Gibson, struggled when their second round matches, also held over, finally got under way on Thursday. Sharma lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to Spain's Leyre Romero Gormaz, while Gibson went down 6-4 6-1 to Argentine Julia Riera. Of the 15 Australian hopefuls who started the week in the qualifying tournament at the French Open, only battle-hardened Daria Saville is still left in the hunt for one of the precious Roland Garros main draw places. The 31-year-old battler had too much know-how on the Paris clay for a promising young Frenchwoman 15 years her junior, Daphnee Mpetshi-Perricard, in the second round of quallies as she eased through 6-2 6-1 on Thursday. If the world No.134 can next defeat the equally experienced American Taylor Townsend in Friday's make-or-break third-round qualifier, she'll make it into the Roland Garros main draw for the ninth time, 10 years since her debut on the Paris red clay. Back in 2015, the Russian-born Daria Gavrilova was just embarking on her career representing Australia, just as another 'Dasha' - her great friend Daria Kasatkina - will be doing this year. If she makes it through, Saville, who's twice reached the third round at Roland Garros, will take the Australian contingent in the main draw to 16, the most in recent memory. But there'll be no more men joining the 10 who've already made it after Jason Kubler, one set down when the rains came on Wednesday, couldn't complete his comeback against Japan's James Trotter, eventually going down 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-3. The other two remaining Australian women in the draw, Astra Sharma and Talia Gibson, struggled when their second round matches, also held over, finally got under way on Thursday. Sharma lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to Spain's Leyre Romero Gormaz, while Gibson went down 6-4 6-1 to Argentine Julia Riera.
West Australian
22-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Daria Saville is last Aussie hope in Paris qualifying
Of the 15 Australian hopefuls who started the week in the qualifying tournament at the French Open, only battle-hardened Daria Saville is still left in the hunt for one of the precious Roland Garros main draw places. The 31-year-old battler had too much know-how on the Paris clay for a promising young Frenchwoman 15 years her junior, Daphnee Mpetshi-Perricard, in the second round of quallies as she eased through 6-2 6-1 on Thursday. If the world No.134 can next defeat the equally experienced American Taylor Townsend in Friday's make-or-break third-round qualifier, she'll make it into the Roland Garros main draw for the ninth time, 10 years since her debut on the Paris red clay. Back in 2015, the Russian-born Daria Gavrilova was just embarking on her career representing Australia, just as another 'Dasha' - her great friend Daria Kasatkina - will be doing this year. If she makes it through, Saville, who's twice reached the third round at Roland Garros, will take the Australian contingent in the main draw to 16, the most in recent memory. But there'll be no more men joining the 10 who've already made it after Jason Kubler, one set down when the rains came on Wednesday, couldn't complete his comeback against Japan's James Trotter, eventually going down 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-3. The other two remaining Australian women in the draw, Astra Sharma and Talia Gibson, struggled when their second round matches, also held over, finally got under way on Thursday. Sharma lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to Spain's Leyre Romero Gormaz, while Gibson went down 6-4 6-1 to Argentine Julia Riera.
Perth Now
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Daria Saville is last Aussie hope in Paris qualifying
Of the 15 Australian hopefuls who started the week in the qualifying tournament at the French Open, only battle-hardened Daria Saville is still left in the hunt for one of the precious Roland Garros main draw places. The 31-year-old battler had too much know-how on the Paris clay for a promising young Frenchwoman 15 years her junior, Daphnee Mpetshi-Perricard, in the second round of quallies as she eased through 6-2 6-1 on Thursday. If the world No.134 can next defeat the equally experienced American Taylor Townsend in Friday's make-or-break third-round qualifier, she'll make it into the Roland Garros main draw for the ninth time, 10 years since her debut on the Paris red clay. Back in 2015, the Russian-born Daria Gavrilova was just embarking on her career representing Australia, just as another 'Dasha' - her great friend Daria Kasatkina - will be doing this year. If she makes it through, Saville, who's twice reached the third round at Roland Garros, will take the Australian contingent in the main draw to 16, the most in recent memory. But there'll be no more men joining the 10 who've already made it after Jason Kubler, one set down when the rains came on Wednesday, couldn't complete his comeback against Japan's James Trotter, eventually going down 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 6-3. The other two remaining Australian women in the draw, Astra Sharma and Talia Gibson, struggled when their second round matches, also held over, finally got under way on Thursday. Sharma lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to Spain's Leyre Romero Gormaz, while Gibson went down 6-4 6-1 to Argentine Julia Riera.
