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Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska fell just short of winning Lyon but said she's happy with the result as she was determined to make a good result in Lyon for her country. Yastremska fled Ukraine last Friday and competed at a WTA event in Lyon.
Yastremska clinched a couple of hard-fought wins before falling short in three sets to Zhang Shuai. Yastremska won the first set but Zhang recovered to win 3-6 6-3 6-4. "It's been a really tough week for me," Yastremska admitted after the loss, per Tennis Majors.
Yastremska to donate prize money from Lyon
Yastremska pledged to donate prize money to the Ukrainian Foundation and urged her people to stay strong amid the Russian invasion. "All this week I have been fighting here on court, not just for myself, but for my country," Yastremska added.
"I'm very happy with the finals - it's a long time since I played in a final. Today I think I didn't have enough emotion, I was pretty tired, but the crowds here, and the people, since I arrived here, it's been amazing. "Everybody was supporting me a lot.
I felt so much power from the people here, and I want to say thanks to the tournament director for the wildcard, thank you for the opportunity. "Thanks to my team, to my coach, to my younger sister - she has been suffering everything the same as me - to my agent and his family for coming to support me.
It means a lot. "The last thing - the prize money I earn here, I'm going to give to the Ukrainian Foundation to support Ukraine. If Ukrainian people are watching me, I want to say you guys are so strong, you have an amazing spirit, and I tried to fight for Ukraine.
"I want to say thanks to every single person in Ukraine for standing by Ukraine, and showing the people we have a really strong spirit. Slava Ukraine!"