Daria Saville expressed that she is feeling more confident as she prepares for the Australian Open. This comes after her recent victory against Sofia Kenin, which is her biggest win since recovering from a severe knee injury. The 29-year-old defeated Kenin 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 on Wednesday evening, earning her a spot in the quarter-finals of the Hobart International.
After a nine-month absence due to a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, Saville, a previous top-20 athlete, made a comeback to the tour in June. Despite her injury causing her world ranking to drop to No 322, she has since climbed back up to No 133.
Saville achieved her highest ranked victory since her comeback by defeating the world No 38 Kenin, who won the Australian Open women’s singles title in 2020. This came after her three-set win against the world No 46 Anna Blinkova in the first round of the Hobart tournament on Monday.
Saville expressed that this experience has boosted his confidence and possibly filled a gap that he felt since returning from his ACL injury. He also mentioned that it’s not just a personal accomplishment, but also a reward for his team. He acknowledges that there is still room for improvement, but he feels that this has been his strongest performance since recovering from his injury.
The victory included 13 aces, with one occurring on the set-winning point and another on the match-winning point, as well as a streak of 15 consecutive points in the second set.
Saville, who was given a wildcard entry for the Hobart tournament, received the last discretionary wildcard spot for the Australian Open, instead of the country’s top-ranked female player Arina Rodionova. Rodionova was defeated in the first round of qualifying and publicly criticized Tennis Australia, accusing them of having a personal grudge against her.
On Thursday, Saville and Lin Zhu, the third seed from China, will compete for a spot in the semi-finals.
On Wednesday, the top-ranked player in Hobart and 30th-ranked player in the world, Elise Mertens, easily defeated former finalist Anna Karolina Schmiedlova with a score of 6-2, 6-3. If Mertens and Saville both win their matches, they will face each other in the semi-finals.
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Mertens, who won in Hobart in 2017 and 2018, next meets the Dutch veteran Arantxa Rus, whom she has not played for nine years.
Mertens expressed his excitement at the possibility of winning the tournament again, but acknowledged that they are currently only in the quarter-finals and still need to win three more matches.
