Daria Kasatkina struggled with her serves and nerves during her first round exit from the Brisbane International, which was her home debut.
The former top 10 player committed 16 double faults during her 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 loss to Anastasia Potapova. Kasatkina found herself down 2-5 in the decider but battled back, saving three match points in the process, to move into a position to level at 5-5. However, she ended up getting broken to love, which handed Potapova the victory.
Kasatkina was playing her first Tour-level match in Australia since switching allegiance from Russia last year. She has previously said her motivation to change nationalities was to have more freedom after previously criticizing Russia’s war with Ukraine and coming out as gay. LGBT people in Russia face various legal challenges, with laws being in place that effectively criminalize public expression and activism related to sexual orientation.
“The last year has been too much for me in many aspects of life, and on court as well. I know that nobody is putting this pressure on me [other than myself],” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Kasatkina as saying.
“I want to represent Australia, and show the results and everything. Of course, when it’s not happening, I feel bad. I know that nobody is expecting me to do so – I’m expecting myself. I want to pay back to the country.
“It’s tough, but all I can do is work hard, go out there, do the best I can, give everything on court … there’s always one winner, one loser, and every week is basically the same thing. But I want to do my best for the country.”
In recent months, a handful of Russian players have switched their nationalities, including Potapova, who is now representing Austria.
“Obviously, everyone’s got their reasons. I mean, we see everything that’s going on,” Kasatkina commented.
“I honestly don’t know if there are more coming or not because everyone keeps these things as a secret until the last moment. There have already been a lot of girls who switched. So, maybe yes, maybe not.”
Kasatkina, who has been ranked as high as eighth in the world, will be making her 11th appearance at the Australian Open later this month. Last year, she achieved her best-ever result at Melbourne Park by reaching the last 16 before losing to Emma Navarro.
