Few players understand the highs and lows of professional tennis better than Daria Kasatkina.
Since she lifted the Roland Garros girls' trophy 12 years ago, the 29-year-old has claimed eight WTA singles titles and risen as high as world No.8.
But alongside those career milestones, Kasatkina has also experienced frustrating challenges, including the burnout that led to her winding up the 2025 season in September.
More recently, a deflating form slump – exacerbated by a hip injury – saw Kasatkina drop to her lowest ranking, at world No.83, in 11 years. That low point came after a third consecutive opening-round loss in Madrid, where she failed to convert four match points against qualifier Daria Snigur.
“We spoke with my coach a couple of weeks ago … he said, 'Dasha, OK, now it's time, you have to swim in the shit. And it's like, you have to go in and really swim in it',” a candid Kasatkina related with a laugh ahead of her 11th main-draw campaign at Roland Garros, where she achieved her best result as a semifinalist in 2022.
Coming ahead of the WTA 125 tournament in La Bisbal, Spain, the harsh assessment was ultimately a helpful one.
Gaining a welcome confidence boost as she claimed five straight matches to win that title, Kasatkina was also a quarterfinalist at the lead-in WTA tournament in Strasbourg.
“It’s been a tough couple of months but I'm finally feeling that I'm getting some puzzle pieces together,” she said.
Restored at world No.53 in the rankings, Kasatkina can also sense her form – or, as she describes it, “the click” – returning in Paris.
Launching her 10th main-draw campaign with a straightforward win over Turkiye’s Zeynep Sonmez, Kasatkina could recognise the progress made within a short timeframe.
“Honestly, I think a couple of weeks ago I would probably lose this match,” she admitted after progressing in an hour and 39 minutes. “Today I was able to win it. Maybe not playing my best, but being there mentally, you know, like very present.”
The second round proved considerably tougher. Kasatkina saved a set point in a tense opening set before eventually overcoming Swiss qualifier Susan Bandecchi 7-5 7-6(11) on her eighth match point.
“It's where it's getting into the jungle and where you have to swim in the shit, like, for real,” Kasatkina assessed of the two-hour battle, which was contested in brutal late-afternoon heat.
“This is like the type of the situation where it's getting really dirty because you normally don't see, like, beautiful shots, and you know, like, nobody is feeling so free to go for it, like, crazy stuff. Everybody is trying to be really safe.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the former junior champion, who faces world No.1 and 2025 women’s finalist Aryna Sabalenka for the chance to reach the second week of the claycourt major for a fifth time.
She not only embraces the challenge of that Court Suzanne-Lenglen encounter but does so with positive momentum.
“Obviously [I’ve] been through hard times, and being now in the situation where I am, looking back, I already played, like, quite a lot of matches in the last, I don't know, let's say three weeks,” said Kasatkina a winner of 11 of 13 matches contested since that first-round loss in Madrid last month.
“This is what we were working for. This is, yeah, very important for me, because this is where I'm finding my confidence, you know, like little by little, building up my feeling on the court again.”
And having grown up idolising Rafael Nadal and modelling aspects of her crafty game on the 14-time men’s singles champion, Kasatkina has long felt a special connection to Roland Garros.
“Every time I'm coming here, I feel comfortable. I know every corner of the stadium,” she smiled.
“I mean, I think it's important. I don't know how it works, honestly, on a spiritual level, but somehow, yes, this place, it's been always nice to me.”
You can watch Roland Garros 2026 on the channels of the Nine Network and Stan Sport.