Daria Kasatkina insists her story shows you should never give up
Daria Kasatkina is thrilled with her 2022 season which has seen her reach the WTA Finals four years after being an alternate for the season-ender.
Kasatkina was emotional as she reflected of those four years as her life and career experienced ups and downs.
She admits that she contemplated retirement during that time but is delighted that she didn’t.
“It was a very long, stressful and tough way. It’s been four years since then, from being an alternate, then thinking about quitting tennis, and coming back to the Finals as a qualifier, that’s amazing,” Kasatkina told Eurosport.
“It shows again that you should never give up because you never know what’s around the next corner, so you have to keep pushing even if it’s super tough. If you think that everything is falling apart, maybe tomorrow everything is going to change.”
Kasatkina says that her desire not to let anyone around her down is what kept her going through a time when she wasn’t enjoying her game.
“I was not enjoying tennis because I couldn’t play,” said Kasatkina.
“I couldn’t play and enjoy being on court. I wasn’t enjoying the travelling, hitting the ball, nothing. So that’s why [I considered quitting]. But it wasn’t a long period of time, I just had to go through this point and got this experience and I’m happy that I didn’t close that door at that moment.
“I was not enjoying tennis because I couldn’t play,” said Kasatkina. “I couldn’t play and enjoy being on court. I wasn’t enjoying the travelling, hitting the ball, nothing. So that’s why [I considered quitting]. But it wasn’t a long period of time, I just had to go through this point and got this experience and I’m happy that I didn’t close that door at that moment.
“In that certain moment, that [not letting people down] was the motivation for me and I’m glad that at that certain moment that worked.
“I would say that I came to this point because of the expectations and because people expected something from me. But then actually this is what also saved me. So you always have to see it from both sides.
“You see the same situation, first it almost killed me and then it saved me. Perspective is everything.”
Kasatkina lost her first match at the WTA Finals against Iga Swiatek but then down Coco Gauff.
She couldn’t reach the semi-finals despite taking the first set against Caroline Garcia.
Kasatkina ends the year as the top-ranked Russian but may not represent the country of her birth for very much longer and could switch allegiance in 2023.
READ MORE: Maria Sakkari insists there is no secret to her WTA Tour Finals form
