Lopatetska is next tennis prodigy
The Ukrainian presence on the WTA Tour was alive and well in 2019. Elina Svitolina has found her rightful place in the top-10 and Lesia Tsurenko elevated herself thanks to her best career finish – the final at the 2019 Brisbane International. The success continues with teenage sensation Dayana Yastremska’s rise of over 100 places in the WTA rankings and her first title win, while another teenager, Marta Kostyuk, made waves by becoming the youngest player to reach a Grand Slam third round in over a decade.
Now add to the above millennial babies another tennis prodigy in the person of 15-year-old Daria Lopatetska (who went by Dasha Lopatetskaya in previous junior competition), a winner of two ITF titles in one month earlier this year – for a total of five titles already to her name.
In mid-January, a mere week after winning the Kidsland Women’s 25k Tournament in Hong Kong, Lopatetska trounced her opponents to take the title at the Lo’s $25,000 Tournament. Competing and winning two back-to-back senior tournaments was physically and mentally demanding, but the pressure did not stop the young lady from reaching the top of her game.
The 5-foot-9 budding tennis star was not always the strong athletic type. In her early years she constantly battled illnesses. At a very young age, she was advised by doctors to become more active and practice sports. Lopatetska’s mother heeded the advice, trying to enter her little girl into several tennis schools in the hope that the sport would improve her health. Most of the tennis schools declined to admit Lopatetska, claiming she was not physically fit for such activity. One club took a chance on the frail youngster, and Lopatetska took her first steps into the world of tennis.
The first few years of training had Lopatetska barely even picking up a tennis racket, choosing instead to run around the court with a tennis ball in her hand. It wasn’t until the age of 8, after she won a tournament, that she began to take her sport seriously.
In a scant three years, she proved skilled enough to qualify for a position on Ukraine’s junior national team. These days, after more than a decade since she first picked up a tennis racket, she claims she cannot imagine a day without tennis.
“Tennis is my life,” she said in a January 2019 interview after a Hong Kong tournament. “It is more than part of me, it is me. To wake up early every day and hit a tiny ball… that’s what I live for.”
Her success in early 2019 followed what she described as a disappointing performance a year earlier. It was not until the U.S. Open Junior Tennis Championships in September 2018 that she found her stroke, finishing fourth overall in the competition. Her results in this tournament made her realize she was good enough to defeat some of the top players. It proved a motivator to strive for greater achievements.
One of the more valuable lessons Lopatetska learned over the years is to not be discouraged or intimidated by other people’s success. The focus should always be on self-improvement. “There is always going to be someone better, who is faster, stronger, makes better shots,” she said in her Hong Kong interview. “Ultimately, it’s about getting the best out of yourself.”
She posted 27 wins in her first 30 matches on the ITF Circuit despite not making her debut on the circuit until June 2018. She quickly won two $15,000 events, enjoying herself immensely, with no pressure playing against girls 10 and 15 years older. Her first tournament started in qualifiers – she was not rated high enough to be in the main draw – and she won.
Lopatetska tested the waters in her biggest professional event at the time, a $60,000 ITF in Saguenay, Canada, where she proceeded to upset former Top-100 Naomi Broady on the way to the quarterfinals. She ultimately suffered her first pro-level defeat against Canadian Katherine Sebov.
Yearning for self-improvement
In 2018 Lopatetska returned home to Ukraine to train with childhood coach Denis Leleko after previously honing her talents abroad. She spent time at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France, an operation run by Serena Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. Although she appreciated the quality training at the academy, she was grateful to come home and reunite with her family. Traveling to tournaments limits the time she gets to spend with her sister and coach Leleko.
Due to her young age, Lopatetska is limited in the number of professional tournaments she can play. She recognizes that spending lots of time practicing will fill up her schedule, but also realizes there is much work ahead to improve even more.
The work is not only on the courts; it involves challenges in off-the-court areas like learning a new language. During her time at the Mouratoglou Academy, Lopatetska was forced to either speak English or French. Since her mother enrolled her in an English school when she was 4 years old, she chose English.
In time, Lopatetska found that the common language among the players in ITF juniors and tournament interviews was English, and she became more comfortable with her third language. She converses in Russian with her coach and Ukrainian with most of her family except, with her sister, who also speaks English.
Lopatetska’s promising career start was rewarded with a nomination to Ukraine’s World Group tie in Australia in February 2018, at age 14. She also led her country to an appearance in the junior Fed Cup final in the fall of 2018. She already has a following in Ukraine and truly enjoys representing her home country at international tennis events.
A mature, intelligent 15-year old, the youngster looks forward to learning all she can from her surrounding group of compatriots. Established Ukrainian tennis star Svitolina, Tsurenko, Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok are soon to be joined by the next generation of Kostyuk, Yastremska, Katarina Zavatska and Lopatetska.
These days Lopatetska’s ecstatic to represent Ukraine in team matches, playing with these amazing ladies. Her goal is to one day, five or 10 years down the road, be better than them.
Ihor Stelmach may be reached at [email protected].