"Why I won't be playing AO 2026" - Daria Saville emulated Serena Williams in last two Grand Slams as she offers pregnancy update

Daria Saville has stated that she was pregnant while competing in the last two Grand Slam events in a stunning achievement as she gave an update on her pregnancy status, along with ruling herself out of the upcoming Australian Open.

The Russian-born Australian tennis player has won a title on the WTA Tour along with reaching world number 20 back in 2017. While she languishes low of that threshold due to countless injury setbacks, she is still persevering no matter what is thrown at her, overcoming any possible stumbling block.

This includes carrying her child while competing. After losing out to Madison Keys in the opening round of the French Open, Saville sat out of the majority of the grass season, awaiting Wimbledon. She would lose out in her opening qualifying match to Panna Udvardy before not being seen on the court until she decided to try and qualify once more for the US Open. This also did not go to plan when she was defeated by Jule Niemeier.

Following this, Saville unveiled with her husband, fellow tennis player Luke Saville, that she was pregnant and expecting their first child together. This was revealed on social media when she posted a video with the writing: "Why I won't be playing AO 2026." The caption also confirmed that she was pregnant for the prior two major events, with it stating: "Played last two Slams of the year preggers."

It is an incredible achievement for her to do that. While she may have not tasted success on the court, she will be looking to return as a mother ready to compete on the WTA Tour again. It is yet to be seen how long the world number 198 will be out for.

This is not the first time a situation like this has occurred. Back in 2017, Serena Williams was pregnant with her first child. However, this did not stop her from travelling halfway around the world to compete in the Australian Open. While this news was only known by her and the people close to her, it was seen as a huge achievement in the tennis world.

It would be her 23rd and final Grand Slam title, defeating sister Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in the final. After the tournament had culminated, it would be confirmed by the American that she was eight-weeks pregnant when triumphing in Melbourne.

“I don’t know how I did that, honestly. I didn’t tell anyone... I remember one time playing a long point against one player, and I couldn’t breathe," Williams said in an interview earlier this year. "And I’m like, how does she not see that I’m not able to breathe right now, and so I just intentionally lost the next point just to kind of try and get my energy back. But then I was like: Why am I playing this far pregnant? This is nuts."

A more extreme version can be portrayed through Mandy Minella, who competed at the 2017 Wimbledon while four and a half months pregnant. The Luxembourg native would go out in her opening round matches in both singles and doubles, giving out the news shortly after.

While Saville and Minella could not repeat the historic success that Williams completed, they were still able to pull of this incredible feat at the top of one of the most physically demanding sports.