Zarina Diyas

Zarina Diyas (; ; born 18 October 1993) is a Kazakh former tennis player. She reached a career-high of 31 in the singles rankings by the WTA.

Diyas mostly played on the ITF Circuit until 2014, her breakthrough season. Having started the year outside the top 150, she progressed into the top 40 by September, allowing her to enter tournaments on the WTA Tour more consistently, although she still plays ITF tournaments. She is one of the most successful female tennis players representing Kazakhstan, along with Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva.

Diyas became a member of the Kazakhstan Fed Cup team in 2011 and has played for 11 years, second only to Yulia Putintseva.

Early life Zarina Diyas was born on 18 October 1993 in Almaty. Her mother is Aida Aulbekova, and she has a sister named Alissa. During her childhood, Diyas spent many years in the Czech Republic, having moved there with her mother and sister when she was five years old. Her mother introduced her to tennis at age six. Around 2010, she played as a member of a tennis club in Prague. She had a chance to acquire Czech citizenship but decided to continue playing for Kazakhstan. She began playing on the ITF Junior Circuit in January 2007 at the age of 13. In July of that same year, she won a low-level Grade-4 title at the Safina Cup in the singles event, defeating Petra Krejsová in the final. She made her doubles debut at the same tournament, losing in the second round alongside Yuliana Umanets. She then continued to have good performances, reaching one semi-final and one final by the end of the year. The next year, she started with a strong result, winning the Grade 1 tournament Czech International Junior Indoor Championships, at her first event of the year. In March 2008, she won her first doubles title at Grade 2 level Luxembourg Indoor Junior Open, partnering with Ksenia Lykina.

Professional 2007–09: First steps Diyas began playing on the ITF Women's Circuit in 2007 at the age of 14. Her first attempt to play in a main draw of a professional tournament was at a $100k event in Bratislava, where she lost in the first round of qualifying. In April 2008, she received a wildcard for playing in qualification at the Prague Open but failed to qualify after a first-round loss to Klaudia Jans. She then made her main-draw debut at the $25k event in Astana where she also won her first title.

At her first two appearances in 2009, she reached a quarterfinal, before winning another ITF title at the $25k event in Stuttgart. The year of 2009 was important for Diyas, as she made her first appearance at a major tournament in qualifying at the US Open, although she lost to Chang Kai-chen in the first round of qualifying.

2010: First top 10 win, top 200 In 2010, she continued to rise up the rankings, debuting in the top 200 in July. Following mixed results for the first half of the year, she reached the final at the $25k event in Rome, losing to Patricia Mayr-Achleitner.

In late 2011, Diyas underwent shoulder surgery and did not play tennis for the next seven months, causing her to fall in the rankings to outside the top 300. In May of the following year, she made her return on the ITF Circuit at the Kangaroo Cup where she failed to qualify for the main draw. Then, in the following round, she recorded a lopsided win over Varatchaya Wongteanchai, losing just one game. However, in the following round, she lost to Kurumi Nara, marking her last quarterfinal of the season.

2013: Back in the top 200 Diyas started season primarily playing in qualifying draws for WTA tournaments. She began the year ranked world No. 264 and finished more than 100 spots higher. Nevertheless, her two early-round wins helped boost her ranking to a then-career-high No. 112.

She then traveled to the United States to compete at the Miami Open, qualifying for the main draw and getting past Alexandra Cadanțu in the first round before losing to Sloane Stephens in the second round. Although she failed to qualify for the Charleston Open, she played at the Malaysian Open and advanced to the quarterfinals – her first WTA Tour quarterfinal since the 2010 Kremlin Cup. Diyas then went to Europe but lost early in the first two tournaments contested. At Strasbourg, she returned to form with a first-round win over world No. 22, Kirsten Flipkens. She followed it up by dispatching Ajla Tomljanović before having to retire in her quarterfinal match against Christina McHale during the second set. Holding a world ranking of No. 86, Diyas was granted a spot in the main draw of the French Open but a difficult draw saw her knocked out by fourth seed Petra Kvitová in the first round.

In late July, she returned to the United States to compete at the Washington Open, where she reached the second round.

Then, in her best result at the US Open to date, the unseeded Diyas advanced to the women's singles third round where she lost in straight sets to 17th seed Ekaterina Makarova, earning $105,090. There, she also played in the doubles event, where reached her first major quarterfinal alongside Xu Yifan.

In Asia, she reached the second round of the Wuhan Open and the China Open, losing to Angelique Kerber in both matches. Her results helped her rise into the top 50, and she finished year as world No. 34. Next week, she made another quarterfinal at the Hobart International, where Alison Riske stopped her from progressing further. Diyas was seeded 31st in singles at the Australian Open. She beat qualifier Urszula Radwańska of Poland in three sets in the first round and then unseeded Slovak Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in the second round in three sets, but she lost her third-round match against No. 2 seed and eventual finalist Maria Sharapova, in straight sets. Diyas also played doubles with South African Chanelle Scheepers, and they advanced to the second round, before losing to the 16th-seeded German team of Julia Görges and Anna-Lena Grönefeld, in straight sets. At the Indian Wells Open, she got a bye in the first round for being seed No. 28. In the next round, she beat Donna Vekić before losing to Serena Williams. At the Miami Open, she also got a bye but lost in the second round to CiCi Bellis.

The clay-court season didn't start well for Diyas, as she lost in first round of the Charleston Open. Her next step was Premier Mandatory Madrid Open, where she lost in round one to Carla Suárez Navarro. Next week, she played at the Italian Open, where she beat Tsvetana Pironkova before she lost to seed No. 6, Eugenie Bouchard.

Prior to Wimbledon, Diyas was defeated by lower-ranked players in two warm-up tournaments, losing to 129th-ranked Sachia Vickery at the Nottingham Open and to 146th-ranked Johanna Konta at the Eastbourne International. Diyas, however, reached the round of 16 at Birmingham by defeating Kateryna Bondarenko in straight sets and through the withdrawal of Victoria Azarenka. Diyas subsequently lost to 12th-ranked Karolína Plíšková. However, her stealthy run at Wimbledon was ended by the fourth seed Sharapova.

Her hardcourt season, did not go as well as her performance on grass. Diyas failed to win in all her pre-US Open tournaments. At Washington, Diyas had to retire against Lauren Davis after trailing a set and 2–1 down. In the first round of the US Open, Diyas was defeated by Polona Hercog, so she failed to repeat her third-round appearance from the previous year. In her next three tournaments, she suffered first-round losses, to Madison Brengle at the Pan Pacific Open, to Irina-Camelia Begu at the Wuhan Open and to Monica Puig at the China Open. In her next two tournaments, she lost in the first round, at the Hobart International to Camila Giorgi and at the Australian Open to Madison Keys. At Doha, she was eliminated by Jeļena Ostapenko. At Miami, she defeated Olga Govortsova and Daria Gavrilova and went one round further, where Serena Williams eliminated her from the tournament. On clay, she reached two second rounds: the Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she lost to Alla Kudryavtseva, and the French Open, where she lost to Simona Halep.

Diyas suffered a wrist injury in round one of Wimbledon, where she lost to Anna-Lena Friedsam. Later she underwent surgery. At Wimbledon, Diyas was given a wildcard into the main draw. She won her first two matches against Han Xinyun and Arina Rodionova but lost to another returning player, Petra Martić, in the third round.

At the Japan Women's Open, Diyas won all her qualifying matches to reach the main draw. She went on to score victories against several higher-ranked players, namely local favourite Misaki Doi, top 30 player Zhang Shuai, compatriot Yulia Putintseva and defending champion Christina McHale. In the final, she beat fellow qualifier Miyu Kato to win her first ever WTA title.

2018: Back in the top 100 and another injury Diyas chose Shenzhen Open as her Australian Open warm-up tournament. There she recorded two wins before she lost to Sharapova in the quarterfinal. Diyas was ranked well inside the top 100 on New Year's Day of 2018 at No. 66, and thus was directly accepted into the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open for the first time since the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. However, she lost in the first round to Sorana Cîrstea in three sets.

In May, she reached the quarterfinals of a WTA Tour clay-court event for the first time in her career at Strasbourg, losing in straight sets to the eventual champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Subsequently, she won her opening match at the French Open, before losing in the second round to Naomi Osaka. In her first-round match against Sam Stosur at the Nottingham Open, Diyas suffered a serious knee injury that saw her miss the entire grass-court season. She returned for the US Open but lost in the first round to Karolína Plíšková. Diyas was also unsuccessful in defending her title at the Japan Women's Open, losing in the quarterfinals to No. 1 seed, Zhang Shuai. First-round losses followed at Dubai and Indian Wells, and her failure to qualify for the Miami Open saw her once again drop out of the top 100. She played at the Australian Open, facing No. 10, Kiki Bertens, in the third round but losing and missing a chance for her best finish at that tournament.

At the Cincinnati Open, she failed to qualify for the main draw. Just like in her previous Premier-5 appearance, she failed to qualify for the main draw at the Italian Open. At her last event of 2020, she lost at the French Open in the first round to Ons Jabeur.

Diyas recorded wins against Tamara Zidanšek and Bernarda Pera to reach the third round of the 2021 Australian Open, where she lost to Garbiñe Muguruza. At the French Open, she eliminated Heather Watson before being defeated by Mertens in the second round. In the US Open, Diyas lost to Amanda Anisimova in the first round. She finished the season ranked 100th. then ended season in June due to injury. She was ranked No. 1042 at the season's end. She received a main draw wildcard for the 2026 Australian Open, losing to Paula Badosa in the first round.

Diyas announced her retirement from the professional tour in April 2026.

National representation Billie Jean King Cup Diyas made her senior Billie Jean King Cup debut for Kazakhstan in 2009, representing the team from 2009 to 2011, 2015 through 2016, and 2018 through 2019. The team competition was known as Fed Cup up until 2020. Diyas has played in 19 ties, compiling an overall record of 18–8 split between 14–5 in singles and 4–3 in doubles. When Diyas debuted for Kazakhstan, they were in Asia/Oceania Zone Group II. To be promoted to the group I for 2010 Fed Cup, Kazakhstan needed to win their round-robin group, which also consisted of Iran, Singapore and Hong Kong. They first played against Singapore, winning with a 3–0 score. After that, with the same score, they defeated Iran, when Diyas debuted, winning in doubles alongside Galina Voskoboeva with a double bagel. Kazakhstan were promoted to Zone Group I for 2010 after winning all matches against Singapore, Iran and Hong Kong. The following year, they came second in a group where they beat Thailand and Uzbekistan both by a 2–1 score, but lost to Chinese Taipei. That sent them to the playoff, where they defeated South Korea. Again, Diyas only played in doubles. Although she lost that match while partnering with Sesil Karatantcheva, Kazakhstan won another two singles matches and stayed in group I for 2011. Being in group I in 2011, Kazakhstan had another chance to advance out of the Zone Group and play in the World Group II playoff, but they failed, coming second in their round-robin group. In a play-off of the Zone Group, they lost to Thailand and stayed in group I for 2012.

Diyas did not play any match for Kazakhstan from 2012 to 2014. During that time, Kazakhstan remained in Zone Group I. They had a chance to be promoted to World Group II in 2014 but lost the World Group II play-off in 2013 to France. On her return in 2015, Diyas won all of her three singles matches. That was enough for Kazakhstan to win their round-robin group; however, they later lost to Japan in the playoff, missing another chance to get to the World Group II playoff. The next year, Diyas only played singles matches and was victorious in both of them, but it was not enough for Kazakhstan to win their round-robin group. After one year of absence, Diyas not only returned to play at Fed Cup, but also played her first doubles match there since her debut in 2009. Nonetheless, in the playoff of Zone Group, they lost against Japan and missed their chance to play in the World Group II playoff to potentially get to the World Group II in 2019. In 2020, format of the Fed Cup changed, allowing Kazakhstan to be a part of the 2020 Fed Cup qualifying round. Kazakhstan played against Belgium for their place in the Finals round but lost 1–3. Diyas had two singles match losses against Kirsten Flipkens and Elise Mertens. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Fed Cup was forced to be split into two years, so that the 2020 Fed Cup Finals round was postponed to 2021, when it was renamed the Billie Jean King Cup.

Playing style

Diyas is primarily an aggressive baseliner whose game is centered around powerful and accurate groundstrokes. Her forehand, which generates a considerable amount of pace, is often used to move her opponents around the court and out of position, which therefore allows her to dominate and win points from or around the back of the court. Her serve, while not necessarily a weapon in her arsenal, is quite effective when placed properly and she employs a tactic of a delayed service motion, which often prevents her opponents from appropriately timing a return. While not a great mover on court, she is able to partly compensate for that with her tenacious fighting qualities. In 2018, she split with Ma and started a collaboration with two Italians, Roberto Antonini as her coach and Carlo Bilardo as her athletic trainer. Dunlop sponsors Diyas, providing her racquets, clothing and shoes. She uses the Dunlop Srixon Revo CV 3.0 Tennis Racquet.

Personal life She has named Justine Henin, Martina Hingis, and Serena Williams as her tennis idols. In an interview with Tennis Prose, Diyas stated that her favourite tournament is Wimbledon, which she loves for its tradition and history.

In 2019, she won the Fed Cup Heart Award for the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I. She is the third player from Kazakhstan to win that award, and hers was the fourth won by a Kazakhstan national. In 2014, she was nominated for Newcomer of the Year but lost to Belinda Bencic.

Performance timelines

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.

Singles

Doubles

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) LegendWTA 250 (1–1)Finals by surfaceHard (1–1)Finals by settingOutdoor (1–1)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 21 (12 titles, 9 runner-ups) Legend$100,000 tournaments (1–2)$75,000 tournaments (1–1)$50/60,000 tournaments (1–2)W50 tournaments (2–0)W25/35 tournaments (7–4)Finals by surfaceHard (8–4)Clay (1–2)Grass (2–2)Carpet (1–1)

Doubles: 1 (runner–up) Legend$25,000 tournamentsFinals by surfaceHard (0–1)

Team competitions Fed Cup/Billie Jean King Cup +LegendWorld Group 2 Play-off (0–2)Zone Group round robin / playoff (16–3)

Singles (14–3)

Doubles (2–2)

Wins against top 10 players Diyas's victories against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.