Almost exactly 1 year after her country was invaded by Russia, Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska is returning to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to compete again in the BNP Paribas Open.
Yastremska, 22, was eliminated from the tournament last year, but just a few weeks prior, she was sheltering in an underground bunker in Kyiv surrounded by explosions.
She shared her harrowing story about escaping her war-torn homeland with News Channel 3.
Two other Ukrainian players are competing this year too: Marta Kostyuk and Anhelina Kalinina.
Kostyuk, 20, is making headlines after beating, then refusing to acknowledge her Russian opponent Varvara Gracheva in the finals of the ATX Open last Sunday.
Kostyuk lost a match this week at the BNP to Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson.
Kalinina, 26, has not yet competed in the BNP.
News Channel 3’s Jake Ingrassia will have more on this story tonight at 5 p.m.
