"I just know that I'm gonna feel like crap": Daria Saville open on toll return to tennis has taken

Australian tennis player Daria Saville is on the verge of making her return to the WTA circuit, and appears to be aiming for a comeback during the grass court season.

The former Top 20 player ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in Tokyo in September 2022, leading to immediate surgery and intensive rehab. This is the second time Saville has dealt with an injury of that nature, as she tore her ACL almost 10 years ago.

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Nonetheless, the 29-year old seems set to return to the game she loves, and is targeting a return in the qualifying draw of the WTA tournament in Birmingham.

"We try and train harder than playing a match, but every time I've come back, doesn't matter how easy or hard it was, you feel like you've been hit by a bus," she said in an interview on the AO Show. "It feels terrible the next day."

“But that doesn't scare me – I just know that I'm gonna feel like crap.”