Dayana Yastremska said she went through "a movie scene" before the start of Indian Wells as the Ukrainian claimed she was close to being deported from the United States after someone falsely reported that her visa and passport were missing.
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So far this week, the world No. 46 has been absolutely great in the desert, completing back-to-back straight-set wins over Yue Yuan 6-2 6-4 and Ons Jabeur 6-3 6-1. As a reward, she will get a shot at defending champion Iga Swiatek in the third round.
Yastremska may be off to an outstanding start to her Indian Wells run but just a week earlier she was going through a dramatic situation that left her feeling stressed out and anxious for hours. At one point, the 24-year-old thought that was it and that she would be prevented from competing in Indian Wells and Miami.
Yastremska: It was stressful and intense, straight out of the movie
"I was flying from Nice to San Francisco via Istanbul. When I landed, they immediately wanted to deport me back to Ukraine. Apparently, someone had officially reported to US authorities through Interpol that my passport and visa were lost. But that was completely falsemy passport was right there in my hands and had never been missing," the three-time WTA champion told Ukrainian Tennis BTU.
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"I spent four hours at airport immigration, waiting anxiously to see what would happen next. According to US law, if a passport is marked as lost in the system, the associated visa becomes automatically invalid. They stamped my visa as canceled, and honestly, at that moment I thought, 'That's itI'm done, heading back home,'" Yastremska laughed. "Even though my visa was actually valid for another two years."
"After four tense hours, they gave me a document allowing me to stay in the US for six months, after which I'd need to renew my visa. It was stressful and intensestraight out of a movie."
In the same interview, Yastremska also noted that she didn't get to know who made the false report. However, she was grateful to the US authorities who understood the situation and did their best to help her.
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Meanwhile, Yastremska is set to meet Swiatek for the third time. In the past, the Ukrainian won their 2019 Billie Jean King Cup meeting but lost their most recent clash at last month's tournament in Dubai.
