Vitalia Diatchenko knows exactly how many injuries she has had and how many surgeries she has gone through, but after defeating fellow Russian Maria Sharapova in a marathon first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday, she must feel like it was all worth it.
“I don’t want to tell you because you’re going to be shocked, guys, how many I did,” Diatchenko said when asked to give details about all the injuries and surgeries she had to endure.
“I can tell you the last one I did, it was last April, so one year ago, this time, I wasn’t playing tennis at all. I started in August, September last year, then I got another problem with my back. I think I will write a book after I finish playing so everyone understands how much I passed.”
The 27-year-old, ranked 132 in the world, came back from a set and 2-5 down in the second, and twice broke back in the decider to defeat the 24th-seeded Sharapova 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a 3hr 8min battle.
Diatchenko, a qualifier who had never won a main draw at Wimbledon, reached the second round of a Grand Slam for just the third time in her career, and first time since French Open 2015.
She has had a career plagued by injuries and said she hoped she would get the opportunity once more to face a top player on a big show court.
Her wish was granted against Sharapova on Tuesday, and Diatchenko was grateful she walked off Court No. 2 as the victor. Her next opponent is American Sofia Kenin.
“Well at least I wasn’t injured today. Okay I got some problems in the beginning of the match with my leg, but it was good to feel healthy and to play matches and finish matches before I had experiences I went to big show courts against good girls and I just couldn’t play my best because I was coming back from injuries. And I remember the nightmare against Serena at the US Open. So finally I could show my game, I’m happy with that,” said Diatchenko.
“I had a dream to play again against Serena or Maria and I had a dream to be healthy, and it happened. And of course for me, these are players who I was looking forward when I was a junior when I was younger, and of course I’m happy I won today.”
On her part, Sharapova concedes that she couldn’t summon her best on Tuesday.
“I definitely had several chances in the match. Although not playing my best tennis, I opened up a few doors and was a couple points away from winning this match. Kept, you know, doing that in the third, as well. But just, you know, sometimes you put yourself in a better or winning position, and you don’t finish through. That was the case today,” said the five-time major champion.
“I would have loved to have played Birmingham. I felt I made that mistake of playing far too many tournaments in consecutive weeks. The clay season was a lot of matches, much more than I’ve played in a really long time. Yeah, it would have been great to play an event, but I had to make a decision for my body and for my longevity rather than to go and play a few matches.”
