Daria Kasatkina, the women’s current world No. 12 and an eight-time champion on the WTA Tour, said Friday that she is switching her nationality from Russian to Australian.
Kasatkina, 27, said in a statement posted to social media that she was “delighted” her application for permanent residency had been accepted by the Australian government.
“Australia is a place I love, is incredibly welcoming and a place where I feel totally at home,” Kasatkina posted to X. “I love being in Melbourne and look forward to making my home there. As part of this, I am proud to announce that I will be representing my new homeland, Australia, in my professional tennis career from this point onwards.”
Born in Russia and having represented her native country since her junior career, which included a girls’ French Open title in 2014, Kasatkina has been outspoken about the invasion of Ukraine, as well as Russia’s treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. She has been in relationship with Russian figure skater Natalia Zabiiako, an Olympic silver medalist, since 2021.
She publicly announced she was gay in a 2022 interview and the revelation briefly dominated the Russian news cycle, with one politician calling her for to be declared a “foreign agent.”
Still, as Kasatkina told ESPN last year, sharing her truth “felt like a backpack of stones fell off my shoulders.”
Since then, Kasatkina and Zabiiako have started a popular YouTube channel documenting their travels on the tennis tour and their life together. Zabiiako told ESPN in 2024 that they frequently hear from those in Russia who are inspired by their bravery.
Kasatkina’s parents remain in Russia, but she has not been back since February 2022 and has lived and trained in Dubai for the past several years.
Kasatkina on Friday said “parts of this decision have not been easy” and thanked her family, as well as her coaches and others who have supported her throughout her journey in the sport.
“I will always have respect and fond appreciation for my roots, but I am thrilled to start this new chapter in my career and my life under the Australian flag,” Kasatkina wrote.
A 2022 French Open semifinalist who has been ranked as high as No. 8, Kasatkina is next scheduled to play in the Charleston Open next week. She won the title at that event — her first at the WTA level — in 2017.
Source: espn.com