‘THEY’RE SCREAMING ‘AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE’: KASATKINA INTO ROLAND GARROS SECOND WEEK

Daria Kasatkina is making her mark under a new flag, reaching the Roland Garros second week in her first Grand Slam as an Australian.

On Saturday in Paris, the 'Dasha' scored her first top 10 victory of the season with a 6-1 7-5 defeat of Paula Badosa and became the first Aussie woman since Ash Barty (2019) to reach the Roland Garros fourth round.

“It means a lot; it was a tough match. I was pretty nervous before [it], but really proud of myself for how I was able to manage that,” she said in her post-match press conference.

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The run to the last 16 has been particularly significant for Kasatkina, who arrived in Paris amid a form slump after a whirlwind period on and off the court.

Coming to Roland Garros, she lost three consecutive matches in straight sets (for the first time since 2020), and combined with her recent change in allegiance from Russia to Australia, it’s ultimately been a challenging month for the 28-year-old.

“The last couple of weeks were a bit rough for me. I couldn't find myself on the court. I felt a little bit flat, like with emotions and stuff…felt little signs of burnout,” Kasatkina said.

Agreeing with the feelings shared by Alex de Minaur after his Roland Garros exit, Kasatkina put her struggles into a larger perspective.

“We are super lucky having this opportunity to do what we love, get paid for it, and travel around the world,” Kasatkina said.

“It's a nice life…but sometimes you are just not super excited to go on court. Everyone can relate that sometimes you don't want to wake up to go to your job. It's normal. We are all humans.”

And ‘Dasha’ told The First Serve that it becomes especially difficult having that sentiment heading into one of tennis’ four majors.

“When you are not feeling very well, you're not winning much, and then you have to go to a Grand Slam, one of your favourite tournaments, it's a bit tricky,” the Aussie said.

But Kasatkina, who has achieved most of her 'slam' success at Roland Garros (now 24-9 W/L), has effectively channelled her energy over the first three rounds, particularly today against Spanish tenth seed Paula Badosa.

“I'm really happy how I’ve been able to manage those nerves (all week). I passed the first round, it was super tough, and then played a challenging night match very late in the second round, and today, Paula, she's top 10, so I'm super happy how I managed the situation,” she said.

Playing under the Australian flag at a major for the first time, Kasatkina admitted she’s already feeling the affection and is learning about that famous chant.

“The past few matches I played, I felt the Aussie supporters. They're screaming like this thing: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. I feel very touched,” Dasha shared.

Having represented Russia on tour for the first fourteen years of her career, Kasatkina revealed this love is already unlike anything she has felt in the past, despite being over 16,000 kilometres from her new home.

“Honestly, I didn't experience this much support in my career before, so I cannot wait to be back in Australia for the swing next year,” she said.

“I'm going to be so nervous, but it's going to be a great experience. And just really thankful for how the Australian people have welcomed me in, how they support, it means so much to me.

The only Aussie in singles action on Saturday, Kasatkina joined Alexei Popyrin in the fourth round, marking the first time since 1988 that Australia will have representation in both the men’s and women’s last 16 (Pat Cash and Nicole Bradtke).

Popyrin will face American Tommy Paul first-up on Sunday (7pm AEST), seeking to go where no Alexei Popyrin has ever gone before at a major (the quarter-finals).

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