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'Grateful' Daria Saville reflects on first semifinal after ACL surgery

In just the fifth tournament of her comeback, the Aussie reached the final four in Hamburg.

ByBaseline Staff

Published Jul 30, 2023

FLASHBACK: In September, Daria Saville tore her ACL in a Toray Pan Pacific Open match against Naomi Osaka.

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She's ready to rise again: Daria Saville says she's feeling "grateful" in the aftermath of a semifinal showing at this week's Hamburg European Open, just her fifth tournament following surgery to repair a torn ACL.

The Aussie reached the final four in Hamburg out of qualifying. Along the way, she upset No. 4 seed, and last week's Palermo finalist Jasmine Paolini, before losing to eventual champion Arantxa Rus in three sets.

"It's been just 10 months since my ACL surgery, but my body coped with five back to back matches, making it to the semifinals of a WTA tournament," she wrote in a reflective Instagram post on Friday.

"I can't express enough how grateful I am to be back competing and grinding."

The Aussie, the world No. 20 in 2017, was already making strides in a different comeback last year when she was knocked back to square one. Ranked outside the Top 600 last February as a consequence of an Achilles injury and surgery that put her on the sidelines for much of 2021, she was just outside the Top 50 when she tore her anterior cruciate ligament, better known by its three-letter acronym, in her knee in the second game of her first-round match against Naomi Osaka at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

She came to Hamburg ranked No. 225.

The 29-year-old Saville also called her Hamburg run a "learning experience," as she was in Germany solo, without a coach or support team.

"Though I admit I don’t like being without a coach, somehow, I managed to navigate both on court challenges and manage off court responsibilities all by myself–another great learning experience," she added. "Now, I can't wait to get to the USA and have the team back! Yay!"

Before her September setback last year, Saville had reached the fourth round in Indian Wells; the quarterfinals in Miami, where she became the lowest-ranked quarterfinalist in tournament history; and the final in Granby.

The Aussie is projected to move up 60 spots in the WTA rankings on Monday, putting her back inside the Top 200.