She is a Kazakhstani professional tennis player
Zarina Diyas is a Kazakhstani professional tennis player; the winner of five ITF tournaments in singles. In 1999, the family of Diyas moved to the Czech Republic, changing the place of residence because of the parents’ work. Here Zarina soon got into tennis and began to train in one of the Prague academies.
Zarina was successful in the junior years: even without having played in the senior tournament before her sixteenth, she managed to get into Top20 of the local rating. Training at the Prague Academy and the first successes in the junior tournaments allowed Diyas often catch the eye of local tennis officials and in the autumn of 2007 she was given a chance to debut in tournaments among adults. Since then, the first chance was followed by a lot of bright victories in professional tournaments. Since 2013 Zarina has been practicing with Chinese specialist Alan Ma at his Academy in Guangzhou.
- I want to be the first racket of the world.
- My grandfather was called Diyas, and in his honor I was given this surname, - tells Zarina. - And it is written by “ya”, pronounced with the first stressed syllable.
- Since my childhood I was a very active child, and my mom decided to send me to the sport. She took me to the Tennis Academy that was near the house. I fell in love with this beautiful sport right away. I was always looking forward to workouts, and even more I loved to participate in tournaments. By the way, in the childhood I was engaged in artistic gymnastics.
- We did not have such far-reaching plans. Mom decided to take me to the sports section and her choice fell on tennis. At the age of 10 I began to take part in European competitions and showed good results. Then we realized that I should take tennis seriously. Plus, the coaches assured my mom that I would go far. That gave us confidence in my abilities.
- I normally apply to all guys, but our officials think that it is easier to take ready-made players from abroad than to grow from scratch their own players. It happened to me - at some point I was just refused. In return I did not come to the national team in the Federation Cup, focusing on the individual tournaments.
- Winning and losing is an integral part of the sport. Of course, it is always nice to win, but without losses you will not be able to become a strong person mentally. We need to know how to lose, and most importantly, to draw correct conclusions and correct errors. It is normal practice. But the most important thing is never give up and go forward.
- You have to sacrifice a lot to reach certain goals and overcome challenges. At 18 I had surgery on the shoulder, in order not to have any problems with it. I did not play for a long time, recovering; I had to start all over again, and the rating fell down. Many people did not believe that I would be back on tournament and even more achieve certain results.
- All day I am on the court or in the gym. I always try to keep in shape. I have a busy schedule and not so much free time. Whole life revolves around training and tournaments. But in my spare time, of course, I communicate with friends from the tournament, listen to music, watch movies and read.
- I became even stronger due to the challenges I passed with dignity. Of course, I would not have achieved these results without the support of family and friends. They helped and endured with me. Especially I am grateful to my mother, she always believes in me, supports and strongly encourages.
- I always try to keep going towards my goal and do everything to achieve it. I really want to win the tournament “Grand slam” and I am motivated by this dream to work out hard and train in full force. I have a lot of goals; step by step I am going to them, it is impossible to get everything at once. I need to have patience and strength to achieve all that I planned.
- Accurate shots, good serves and proper tactics always give psychological reassurance. I am always trying to find the rhythm of the game and be active in all components. All these give confidence in the most important matches and this fact has played a very important role.
- To be honest, I never believed in omens and in sports especially. This is not a place where you can rely on and maybe concern yourself with extraneous thoughts. To be honest, I am even against it. In tennis you can only count on yourself.
- Now I have no idols, because they are all my competitors.
- I am not going to change the citizenship. I am in favor of Kazakhstan.
- East or West, home is best. Kazakhstan will always be for me the number one country. But I was very impressed by Japan. This is truly a magical place with charming and friendly people. Perhaps nowhere in the world I have not seen such a synthesis of tradition and modern technology.
- I am often supported. I especially remember the support of the children during ITF in Nottingham. They brought the flag of Kazakhstan to the competition, and after the match invited me to a restaurant. It seems small things, but so nice that there are people willing to support. In such moments, you feel much more confident, knowing that you are doing something important.
- I want to continue to open the Tennis Academy in Kazakhstan with all the necessary conditions to develop this kind of sport more actively. I want to contribute to the development of this sport and look for new champions within our country.
- I would suggest, if you have a dream, a goal to achieve something you must work for it. You have to sacrifice a lot to achieve them. You must dedicate everything to tennis, if you want to achieve results in this sport.
- The main thing that I appreciate in people is honesty. I really want to do something for the benefit of society and leave my mark in history, making the world a better place.
- I am into fashion. I try to be aware of the latest trends. I love to go shopping in search of something new and interesting. I read fashion blogs and magazines, which allow you to keep up with all the fresh and relevant.
- My ideal of a real man? He must be faithful, kind, honest... and love me.