On Friday Russia’s second highest-ranked player on the WTA Tour confirmed that she will no longer be representing the country.
World No.12 Daria Kasatkina announced on social media that she has completed her application for permanent residency in Australia and will be playing under the country’s flag. The 28-year-old has eight WTA trophies to her name and reached the French Open semi-finals in 2022.
“Australia is a place I love, is incredibly welcoming and a place where I feel totally at home,” Kasatkina wrote in a post on Instagram. “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.”
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, players from the country and Belarus (who are accused of supporting Russia’s actions) have been playing under a neutral status. Kasatkina is one of the very few players from her homeland to have criticized the military action, previously describing it as a ‘nightmare.’ She has also criticized Russia’s anti-LGBT laws after publically coming out as gay.
“Obviously, there are parts of this decision that have not been easy,” Kasatkina continued. “I want to express my thanks and gratitude to my family, coaches, and everyone who has supported me throughout my tennis journey to date.”
The switch of nationalities will be a blow to the Russian tennis community but few senior figures in the country have decided to criticize Kasatkina. Most appear to be understanding and supportive of her move.
The politicians
Svetlana Zhurova is a former speed skater currently serving as a deputy at the State Duma (lower house of the Russian federal assembly). Speaking about Kasatkina during an interview with RIA Novosti, she believes there shouldn’t be any negative reaction.
“She voiced her position, we should treat it calmly, without hate. Of course, they will torment her with not very good comments on this matter, but let’s be honest, she has not lived in our country for a long time, the state has not invested money in her, so there is no point in accusing her of anything,” Zhurova commented.
Dmitry Svishchev is a member of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sport and Youth Affairs. He describes Kasatkina’s change of citizenship as ‘nothing supernatural.’
“This is her life and personal business. In fact, she is one of our best tennis players. There is nothing supernatural in the fact that she decided to change her citizenship. Many people do this now: some get foreign citizenship, and some get Russian citizenship,” said Svishchev.
“The main thing is that Daria does not forget that Russia, in the form of the Tennis Federation, Tarpischev (federation chief), and coaches, did the utmost for her to realize herself as a tennis player.
“Of course, she herself is very talented, we all rejoiced at her victories and were upset by her defeats, but the country has also done a lot for her as an athlete.”
Elaborating further, Svishchev admitted that Kasatkina and her partner Natalia Zabiyako would be better off in Australia to live their lives more freely. In recent years, Russia has tightened its targeting of LGBT people and organizations. In 2023 the “international LGBT movement” was declared an “extremist organisation.”
“Daria can live with whomever and however she wants. We and most Russians do not share this, but we still understand it. She will probably be better off there. Perhaps she will be more comfortable there with her companion. Let her play for Australia.” He said.
The former players
As for those within the tennis community, former world No.1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov played down the news when speaking to Championat.
“I don’t have any particular thoughts about Kasatkina,” he said.
“All thoughts on this matter are Dasha’s, and I can’t answer for her or talk about the reasons for the decision. In any case, she can’t play in any team competitions for Australia, nor can she compete at the Olympics, because she’s played for Russia. And I don’t know the motivation for the decision.”
Andrei Chesnokov is a former world No.9 who contributes regularly to Russian media. He believes Kasatkina might receive some criticism for her decision but stated that he will not be doing so.
“It’s all sad, but it’s reality,” Chesnov told Tass. “I think there will be a lot of hatred towards her, there will be people who will call her a traitor, but I’m not one of them because she did a lot for Russian tennis. She was in the top ten in the world rankings, and I will continue to root for her.
“On the one hand, it’s a loss, on the other hand, we are not playing in the Billie Jean King Cup, the next Olympic Games will be held in 2028. So it’s not all that bad, but it is very sad.”
Shamil Tarpischev, president of the Russian Tennis Federation, suggests that the move has been ‘heading this way for a long time.’
“Everything has been heading this way for a long time. Daria hasn’t visited us for a long time, there is no contact with her as such,” he told Match TV.
“Kasatkina has chosen her own path. She has a good head for the game, she can play solitaire on slow courts, but she is unlikely to become faster. She is unlikely to play any stronger. She played for Russia, I don’t know how she is going to play for the Australian team now.”
Her mother
Finally, perhaps the most important comment from Russia for Kasatkina is that of her mother Tatiana Borisovna Kasatkina.
“We communicate daily, meet whenever possible. Daria is an adult and sensible person, we accept and respect her decisions. This does not change anything in our relationship,” Tatiana told odds.ru in a statement.
Russian-born players switching allegiance is nothing new in tennis. Other recent examples include Natela Dzalamidze Georgia in 2022, Varvara Gracheva to France in 2023 and Elina Avanesyan to Armenia in 2024.
NOTE: All quotes were written in Russian and have been translated into English as accurately as possible with the help of translation tools.
