Zarina Diyas is a professional tennis player that was born in Kazakhstan in 1993. Under the tutelage of Alan Ma, Zarina Davis has been able to utilize her unique style to win 5 titles on the ITF circuit. She is a right-handed player with a two-handed backhand that focuses on very powerful groundstrokes and aggression in the center. Since her professional debut in 2009, Zarina Diyas has been able to win 5 different titles on the ITF Circuit, though she has not been able to win any titles in the WTA as of 2016.
Personal Background
Zarina Diyas was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan on October 18th, 1993. Her mother is Aida Aubelova and she has a sister named Alisa. Despite being born in Kazakhstan, Zarina Diyas actually moved to the Czech Republic when she was 5 years old. It was during her time there that she took up tennis at the age of 6. She lived in the Czech Republic until she was 12 years old and was mainly based in Guangzhou China for much of her tennis training. Her trainers include Stefano Baraldo for her fitness and condition as well as Alan Ma. The tennis players that she has looked up to most in her career include Serena Williams, Justine Henin, and Martina Hingis.
Tennis Career
Diyas started her tennis career in her first professional tournament in an ITF match held in Bratislava. She lost her debut match in the first round of qualifications and it marked the only tournament that she participated in during the year.
The next year, 2008, Zarina Diyas played in 3 different tournaments. For the first two events of the year, she lost her qualifying matches. However, in her third event of the year, a tournament held in Astana, she was a wildcard and defeated Tetyana Arefyeva in the finals to claim her first title.
She won another title in 2009 when she won a tournament in Stuttgart. She had great results in 2009 where she participated in a WTA tournament held in Prague. Zarina Diyas defeated both Petra Kvitova and Kristina Mladenovic in the event. That same year she played in the first round of the US Open singles qualifying matches losing to Chang Kai-Chen.
The biggest win of her career at that point was in 2010 when she defeated Jelena Jankovic in a shocking upset. Despite defeating Jankovic who was ranked number 7 at the time, Diyas subsequently lost to Kirilenko in the next match.
2013 was one of Diyas’ most successful years. She began ranked at only 264 but finished the year at number 163, holding wins over Belinda Bencic, Varatchaya Wongteanchai, and Peng Shuai.
Her best season was in 2014 where she was able to make it into the top 50. Diyas defeated Aleksandra Krunic at the Australian Open as well as Andreea Mitu and Stephanie Dubois. She made her first grand slam entry as a result. Her hot streak continued as she was able to defeat Marina Erakovic in the 2nd round.
She reached lost a match against Samantha Stosur in her first WTA finals appearance at the Japan Women’s Open. By the first half of 2015, she was able to reach a career high ranking of 31.
Playing Style
Zarina Diyas has a very aggressive forehand which she is able to use to move her opponents into awkward positions. She focuses on changing timings and rhythms throughout the match, especially with her delayed service motion serves which allows her to make up her lack of pure power with tactics and timing. Since she does not focus on agility and movement on the court, she prefers to have a very aggressive baseline game.
Picture from Zarina Diyas
Social Media
You can follow Zarina Diyas on
Instagram: @zarinadiyas
Twitter: @ZarinaDiyas
