At the Adelaide International, Daria Kasatkina needed 70 exhausting minutes to take the first set and another 45 to close out the second against Maria Sakkari, a former world No. 3, who now sits at No. 52. It was straight sets on the scoreboard, but nothing about the journey was easy, as Danielle Collins knows.

Collins, who has been on punditry duty in Australia, weighed in on the 28-year-old’s 2026 comeback following her break from the tour. Pointing to Collins, an analyst mentioned that Kasatkina had been dealing with a lot off the court, before asking her to weigh in about how difficult it is to play your best tennis when things aren’t going perfectly.

“Well, Kasatkina has really proven herself over the last couple of years, being one of our tour warriors, I like to refer to her as. I think the schedule, the demands of the tour life, it’s a lot for every single athlete, and we all go through different ups and downs,” said Collins.

Back in early October, Daria Kasatkina announced she was ending her 2025 season early to reset and give herself a break. In a lengthy social media post, Kasatkina explained that the tour’s demands (nonstop travel and competition) had become too overwhelming.

“She had that breaking point. It seems like she had a really great offseason, some time to relax, some time to just enjoy life and do some things that maybe,” added Collins.

With injury and an allegiance switch from Russia to Australia out of fear of being targeted, Kasatkina has dealt with a lot over the past year. The break was essential; during her time off, the Aussie explored, relaxed, and ate good food, as she documented frequently on Instagram.

“The time I really needed. It took me almost 3 weeks to disconnect my brain from stress and anxiety I’ve been feeling for a while and finally realized what a lucky person I am,” wrote Kasatkina in one post.

Even in an interview last year, Kasatkina mentioned that she was “destroyed mentally,” and that she could barely remember the first three weeks of her break because of the recovery process.

If that wasn’t enough, she also said that events in her personal life had taken a mental toll. She came out as gay in 2022, publicly criticized the Russian government, said it was unsafe to visit her family in Russia, and later changed her sporting allegiance to Australia in the spring.

Collins added, “Now she’s having some time to come back now and get this going again. And hopefully she’s going to feel good for the rest of the year. And we won’t hear about any more breaking points.” The interviewer agreed, adding that hopefully that’s especially true during the Australian stretch.

Now, with this latest win, Daria Kasatkina is set to face Jaqueline Cristian tomorrow at the Adelaide International. And even if she loses, though fans hope she won’t, given her past battles and comebacks, it’s fair to believe she can still do well at the Australian Open.

Daria Kasatkina knows nothing but tennis

Five years after turning pro, Daria Kasatkina went through a period where she nearly lost her passion for tennis. After winning the Stuttgart Open as a teenager in 2017, she quickly made a name for herself on tour.

However, her breakthrough came in 2018, when she finished runner-up at Indian Wells and captured both the Kremlin Cup and the St. Petersburg Trophy. But as 2019 began, her momentum stalled.

Struggling badly with form, her ranking slipped into the lower half of the top 100. Following a straight-sets quarterfinal loss to Vera Zvonareva at the St. Petersburg Open, Daria Kasatkina reached a low point and seriously questioned her future in the sport.

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She ultimately found a way forward, thanks in large part to her coach at the time, Philippe Daheas, whom she worked with for two years. “I can’t do sh*t for a living, except tennis. I had to re-think quitting. It was a pretty dark and hardcore period,” she said.

Regardless, Daria Kasatkina slowly rebuilt. After mixed results in 2020, she returned to the top 30 in 2021 and won two titles. She followed that by winning two more trophies in 2022 and breaking back into the top 10. Known for her speed and creative shot-making, she also led her country to victory at the Billie Jean King Cup in 2020-21.