After a strong summer on the ITF Pro Circuit, Ukrainian teenager Dayana Yastremska has become the first woman born in the 2000s to crack the Top 100 on the WTA rankings, debuting at a career-high of No.100 on Monday.
Yastremska clinched her spot in the Top 100 by reaching the semifinals of a 100K event in Budapest last week, outpacing countrywoman and fellow teenager Marta Kostyuk for the honor.
The 18-year-old has amassed an 20-6 record in the last two months, winning a 60K title in Rome and finishing runner-up at two 100K tournaments: one in Cagnes-Sur-Mer on clay (as a qualifier) and another in Ilkley on grass.
As a junior, she reached the girls' singles final at Wimbledon and won her maiden WTA main draw match over former Top 10 player Andrea Petkovic at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup last spring.
“I remember very much the support of the fans,” she told wtatennis.com during the off-season. “It was very cool playing a tournament in a place where I’ve trained. Those were my first WTA wins, so it will always be in my memory, especially the match point of the first win.”
Yastremska's ranking rise puts her in pole position to make her Grand Slam main draw at this year's US Open, having twice fallen in qualifying at this year's Australian Open and Wimbledon.
“I hope to reliably gain a foothold on the WTA tour; this is the main goal," she said back in December. "What kind of place will this be, where will I end up?
“It’s all in my hands!”
