Right, left, and center, the Russians have gone on, picking up WTA titles since the Australian open.
This is despite the absence of a single Russian ranked inside the Top 8 on the WTA Tour.
However, it remains for the eyes to see that they have been making their mark. One of such Russian is Elena Vesnina who for her first WTA Premier Mandatory Event title,won in Indian Wells. This win in the final was over Svetlana Kuznetsova, a fellow Russian and the current world No. 9. With that,Vesnina went way up to a career-high ranking of No. 13.
Speaking after her victory, she made mention of the quality of the match and how good it was for women’s tennis and sport as a whole;
“I think in Russia they showed the whole match. So I think that’s great for women’s sport, great for women’s tennis. Me and Svetlana, I think we should proud how we actually were fighting and the quality of the tennis was really high.”
In the round of 16 in Miami, it was quite unfortunate for the country as no woman from Russia was able advance through that round. However, last week saw them produce tremendous results in two tour level events.
In these events, two Russians emerged. The first was Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, currently the world No. 16, fighting bravely and taking down Angelique Kerber, currentworld No. 1,in a three-setter as she went on to win Monterrey.
The second was a teenager namedDariaKasatkina who in Charleston secured victory over JelenaOstapenko, another dangerous teen in a straightforward victory as she went on to win her first WTA title.Kasatkina believes that her victory is important for the growth of women’s tennis and to pose as wonderful examples to growing kids.