“The New Name of World Tennis”. What they say about the main Russian sensation at the Australian Open
Varvara Gracheva, ranked 97th in the WTA rankings, beat No. 8 Daria Kasatkina 6:1, 6:1 in the first round of the Australian Open. How experts assessed the performance – in the material “RBC Sport”
Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images
Russian tennis player Varvara Gracheva made her WTA debut in July 2019 at a tournament in Lausanne (Switzerland), losing in the first round to Chinese Han Xinyun (4-6, 6-7).
Last year, at the Australian Open, Gracheva, paired with Angelina Kalinina, lost in the first round to Victoria Kuzmova and Vera Zvonareva with a score of 0-2, 2-6, 4-6.
Also in 2022 at the US Open, the Russian lost to Petra Martic with a score of 0-2, 4-6, 6-7 and was eliminated from 1/64. However, in 2023, at the Australian Open, Gracheva still managed to break into the second round, beating the first racket of Russia, Daria Kasatkina.
Shamil Tarpishchev, President of the Russian Tennis Federation
“Gracheva is a young and growing player, and naturally the match against her compatriot, who is in the top ten, was easier to play. I’m leading to the fact that the psychological subtext was like this. Kasatkina had to win for sure. Her defeat is largely due to the nervous system, and not because of Gracheva’s cool game, ”Tarpishchev said in a conversation with RBC Sport.
Viktor Yanchuk, Chairman of the International Tennis Federation from the USSR (1983–1990)
“I am a fan of Gracheva, this is the new name of world tennis, she deserves all the approval and praise. Although Daria Kasatkina is improving, her class is high, but on the other hand, let another girl, younger and with a greater perspective, also add. This is a positive development, there is nothing to be upset about. Gracheva needs to gain more confidence, and then she will enter the elite of women’s tennis. Moreover, women’s tennis in recent years has no leaders that were before. It’s time to break forward to the very top, ”Yanchuk told RBC Sport.
Andrey Chesnokov, winner of seven ATP tournaments
“It’s not easy to play against Gracheva, especially when she hits everything. Kasatkina lost confidence, began to play worse and worse, did not enter the game. Everything can be, nothing terrible happened, ”Chesnokov told RBC Sport.
Andrey Olkhovsky, the first Russian champion of the Australian Open and Roland Garros in the mixed doubles
“First of all, let’s pay tribute to Gracheva – she’s done well. As for Kasatkina, there may be some physical ailments, in principle this should not happen in the game, and if it does, then it is simply impossible to explain it, at least from the outside, ”Olkhovsky told RBC Sport.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 2000 Olympic tennis champion and Australian Open champion
“I have no understanding why Daria lost the meeting with her compatriot. It is difficult to characterize why Kasatkina was completely unprepared. By her standards, this is a poor performance in the first round, being the eighth racket of the world. They probably expected that it would last at least until the second week. Sport, unfortunately, is such a thing where you cannot guarantee anything. Today we can say that Varvara is stronger than Kasatkina, ”- said Kafelnikov in an interview with a Sport24 correspondent.
Elena Vesnina, 2016 Olympic tennis champion
“It’s a shame that Daria did not show the level of tennis that she can demonstrate, but congratulations to Gracheva. I hope she goes as far as possible. I hope that Kasatkina didn’t get injured, I didn’t watch the game, but Gracheva showed incredible tennis, ” leads words by Vesnina Metaratings.ru.
