Diana Yastremska was forced to spend 48 hours hiding in an underground car park to take cover from Russian bombs.
But now she is rewriting history by reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open as a qualifier.
The 23-year-old has enjoyed an impressive run in Australia after taking three three-set matches to book her place in the main draw – before beating No7 seed and Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and No27 seed Emma. Navarro and No. 18 seed Victoria Azarenka.
She will face world No. 93 Kenwen Cheng, seeded No. 12, with a first Grand Slam final on the line for both women.
Yastremska set records as the first female qualifier to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open since 1978.
She is always quick to thank her parents for her success while also remembering and motivated by the reality of the ongoing tragic war in her homeland.
After reaching the semi-finals, she wrote on the television camera lens: “I am proud of our fighting people from Ukraine.”
“They truly deserve great respect,” Yastremska said in an emotional message to her inspiring compatriots defending the country.
“I always try to write something for Ukraine, about Ukraine
“I think that's my mission here. I'm just trying to give a signal to Ukraine that I'm really proud of it.”
Diana and her younger sister Ivana fled Odessa when Vladimir Putin ordered the brutal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
They had been sheltering from Russian bombs for two days when the siblings' parents, Alexander, a former volleyball player, and Marina, decided to send them away to safety.
The girls waved goodbye to their mother and father from a boat as they fled to France, and were not reunited for several months.
A heartbreaking Instagram post at the time showed Diana sitting comforting Ivana and hugging family members as they prepared to leave with her tennis bag.
“After spending two nights in the underground parking lot, my parents made the decision to send me and my little sister out of Ukraine at any cost,” Yastremska wrote.
“Mom, Dad, we love you very much, take care!!! I love you, my country! Ukrainians take care of your life.”
Diana and Ivana, also a tennis player, took refuge in France. – Joshua Jones, The Sun UK
3.07pm: Excellent tie break time!
Ebden and Bopanna were very close.
They had three match points on Zhang's serve, but from 0-40, he saved all three – big serves, big forehands, big moments.
“It's an extraordinary comeback,” Todd Woodbridge says.
Instead, we're on our way to a great tiebreaker. First to 10!
2.55pm: Boban is broken!
There is another twist in this match, as Rohan Bopanna was broken while serving for the match.
He and Australian Matt Ebden had one leg in Saturday's final, but instead it is Zhang who can stay on in the semis at 4-5.
2.40pm: Bopanna demands a decisive break
Creativity is back!
He breaks back in the fourth game, as Mattak's serve is broken for the second time in this match.
And it was all Bopanna, who had a shaky second set but made several powerful passes at the net – then held comfortably – to steal a 4-1 lead in the third set.
“You get a moment like that in a game, and it can turn around… and it hasn't turned around yet,” Todd Woodbridge says on commentary.
2.25pm: All locked in the doubles semi-final
It was down to a playoff in the men's semi-finals, where Cheng and Machak warmed up and won the second set 6-3.
Bopanna lost his cool a bit at the net during that second set, and he's about to get hot now!
2.10pm: Ebden break, down 3-1 in the second set
Rohan Bopanna wasted some chances at the net – including a wild forehand long to concede a break on Matt Ebden's serve.
That was kind of clumsy considering how clear everything was throughout the first set.
After Ebden and Bopanna won the first set, they trailed 3-1 in the second.
2.00pm: Rain stops play
The score was 1-1 in the second set, which led to a halt in play.
It's just a light sprinkle, but there will be a short delay when the roof is closed and the field is drained by the ball kids.
1.50pm: Ebden and Bopana take on Group A
This is the first group in the books – just the break that Australian-Indian duo Matt Ebden and Rohan Bopanna need.
They won the first set 6-3 and are the No. 2 seeds on their way to reaching the men's doubles finals.
Both were excellent at the net, and it's frankly remarkable the level Bopanna is playing at at the age of 43.
1.45pm: Ebden Edge are close to clinching the first group
Ebden and Bopanna wasted a break point on Zhang's serve, and the Taiwanese star maintained his strong grip at the end with a big serve.
But they are closing in on winning the first set while holding Ebden's serve once again – although they are once again under pressure from their unseeded opponents.
The Australian leads 5-2.
1.35pm: Ebden/Bobana lead 4-1
Some fine work by Ebden helped him and Bopanna break Macak's serve early – and take a 4-1 lead after Bopanna held on.
1.25pm: Ebden pulls together after a tough match
It was all about the serve during the three matches at Rod Laver Arena, but it was not easy for Australian Matt Ebden.
They were brought back into the draw, having led 40-0, before taking a 2-1 lead alongside Rohan Bopanna.
1.15pm: Australian Ebden eyes finals
Australian Matt Ebden is at Rod Laver Arena, with his eye on the men's doubles final.
Will he and his colleague and newly crowned world number one, Rohan Bopanna, face Chinese Zhang Zhichen and Czech Tomas Machak?
At 43, Bopanna is the oldest man in history to become world number one in men's doubles.
12.30pm: Hewitt avoids a nightmare
We've all seen the bad – Cristiano Ronaldo remains the gold standard for disaster – but Lleyton Hewitt was pleasantly surprised when the bronze bust of his head was unveiled on Wednesday night.
Hewitt was immortalized at Melbourne Park after being inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame.
While his compatriot John Millman made cheeky comments on social media about the potential for an ugly outcome, Hewitt was impressed.
“I think they did a pretty good job. I like the hat inside out,” Hewitt said on Channel Nine.
“I didn't see it until you revealed it last night… That was a weird feeling, because you've seen some of them in the past go wrong.
“They asked to take a lot of pictures last year, and I was skeptical about it. I said I actually preferred it in my younger days when I was 20 or 21 years old.
“But I'm very happy with it.”
Millman did a little research on Instagram, noting that he hoped Hewitt's bust would look “a little better than Cristiano's” next to Ronaldo's brutality.
11.50am: The revenge mission is set to go off in classic style
It's the chance for revenge that Aryna Sabalenka has been craving since the US Open.
The defending Australian Open champion did not hide her enthusiasm for revenge against American teenage star Coco Gauff after storming into the semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
“I love it, I love it,” Sabalenka said when asked how happy she was to get another chance to face Gauff so soon after their fight in the US Open final.
“After the US Open, I really wanted this revenge.
“It's always great fights against Coco, with really great fights. I'm happy to play here and very excited to play the semi-final.”
Gauff won in three sets over Sabalenka the last time they met in the deciding set at Flushing Meadows last year to win her first Grand Slam singles title.
Now, at the Grand Slam opener of the 2024 season, the pair are the last top-10 seeds remaining at Melbourne Park.
Second seed Sabalenka, who won her first major title at the Australian Open last year, looked in bad shape before the match after reaching the semi-finals for the sixth time in a row at a Grand Slam.
The 25-year-old has not conceded more than three games in a set in any of her matches so far in Melbourne – losing just 16 games overall – and has spent just over five hours on court during her campaign so far.
The result may have changed her way in New York, but Gauff was well aware of the hurdle Sabalenka faced in the season-opening tournament.
“Arina, (it's) always a tough game for her,” Goff said.
“I think she is playing well in this tournament. Obviously the US Open final was difficult.”
While Sabalenka easily overcame her quarterfinal opponent, No. 9 seed Barbora Krejcikova, Gauff was coming off her toughest match of the tournament.
The 19-year-old player was forced to go through three sets for the first time in her match against Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in an epic battle on the main court that lasted more than three hours and included two tiebreaks.
Gauff later quipped that she hoped she had gotten her “bad game out of the way” after a performance she rated only a “C”.
Sabalenka was equally wary of the threat posed by Gove.
“She moves really well. Everything you do on the court is up to you,” Sabalenka said.
“So you need to build up the point probably (a) multiple times in one point to get that….an easy shot to finish off the point.
“That's why she's (a) really tough competitor. She's a great player, and I'm very excited to play with her.”
And if she can snuff out Gauff's hopes of winning back-to-back Grand Slam titles, Sabalenka will have a calmer demeanor on court to thank for it.
Sabalenka admitted that she had not been “very proud” of some of her on-court mannerisms in the past, but said her “mentality” had changed.
“I don't get crazy on the court, and I don't rush things,” Sabalenka said.
“You know, I'm just playing point by point, that's it, and I'm fighting for every point without overthinking about my dreams, about what I want to do, how many Grand Slams I want to win and all that stuff.
“I've been able to separate myself from that kind of mentality and start focusing on myself and focusing on the things I can improve and get better at, and what I actually need to do to win every game I play.
“I think it's all about experience. I think I'm more mature, older, whatever you want to call it.”
“I'm not too proud of myself when I do certain things on the field.
“It's been part of my journey and I'm really happy that I faced those challenges and I'm happy that I was able to fix that and be calmer on the field.
“It was a really big job, and I'm glad I was able to fix that.”
Along with her serve and volley, Gauff also backed her mental toughness as key to her on court ahead of her semi-final encounter.
“I think just my mental toughness has helped me get through a lot of games,” Goff said.
“I feel like I am one of the strongest players mentally, and I do my best to reset myself after every point.”
11.25am: Leighton's advice shocks Novak
Men's tennis may be about to see a radical changing of the guard.
Novak Djokovic – the 24-time Grand Slam champion and undisputed king of Melbourne Park – faces young defender Jannik Sinner at Rod Laver Arena tomorrow.
Australian great Lleyton Hewitt believes a surprise is about to happen.
Djokovic has a perfect 10-0 record in Australian Open semifinals – and finals – but in Sinner he faces the best player in tennis, and a star who has yet to drop a set at this year's tournament.
“I think Jannik Sinner could upset him. It's 50/50,” Hewitt said on Channel 9.
“If Jannik Sinner can get off to a good start, he has a good shot.
“(Sinner) was very close two years ago, getting a match point against (Carlos) Alcaraz, and Alcaraz went on to win the US Open.
“It was just a few little polishing touches.
“That internal belief that Darren was around the big players at the end of the tournament and having him in his corner is a very important point.”
10.45am: Australians are at work today
It's women's semi-final day at Melbourne Park – with both semi-finals taking place in the night session.
But Australia Day could come 24 hours early, as two Australian players will play in the doubles semi-final this afternoon.
From 1pm, Matthew Ebden meets world No. 1 men's doubles star Rohan Bopanna, with the No. 2 seed eyeing a place in the final.
They will face Chinese Zhang Zhichen and Czech Tomas Machak at Rod Laver Arena.
Later in the afternoon, third seeds Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova will compete against second seeds Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Belgian Elise Mertens.
Hunter and Siniakova strengthened their favorites for this year's women's doubles title with wins over Barbora Krejcikova and Laura Siegemund yesterday.
Originally published as Australian Open Day 12: Live scores, latest news from Melbourne Park
