Zarina Diyas hopes to represent Kazakhstan at Olympics

Kazakh tennis player Zarina Diyas dreams of winning a Grand Slam tournament and representing Kazakhstan at the Olympic Games, Tengrinews reports citing Vesti.kz.

“I play for Kazakhstan and wish to represent Kazakhstan at the Olympics. It would be a great honor for me,” Diyas said. “The Olympics will take place in two years, and playing there requires a certain place in the rankings. I hope I will make it.”

She added that it had always been her dream to win a Grand Slam tournament and enter WTA's TOP-10.

“One needs to sacrifice something. And if you want to achieve results, you sacrifice a lot. All my time I dedicate to training, preparation, tournaments. This is difficult. But if you have a goal, you must pursue it,” the young Kazakh player said.

Diyas said tennis had seen a boost in Kazakhstan, where the public had been becoming more and more interested in this sport and more children had started playing it. She said her fans were sending messages of support and good wishes to her, but regretted that she had no time to respond to all of them due to her tight schedule.

But hard work is paying off. Zarina is having the most successful year in her career. On November 10 the 21-year-old athlete climbed to the 33rd place in the WTA ranking with 1,371 points. Her playing at the Wimbledon and the US Open has caught the attention of the WTA and she is now among the four young tennis players nominated for the 2014 WTA Newcomer Of The Year. The winner will be announced on Monday, November 17.

By Dinara Urazova