By Billie Eder
Russia-born tennis player Daria Kasatkina has spoken for the first time since switching allegiances to Australia, revealing her sexuality was a major factor in making the move to become an Australian citizen.
Kasatkina, the world No.12 and the only openly gay female player in the top 100, said her team approached Tennis Australia about the switch a few months ago.
Daria Kasatkina will compete for Australia now that she has been granted permanent residency.Credit: AP
“Today, the rankings updated, and it’s my first official day as an Australian player. And honestly, it feels different. I’m not going to lie. It’s emotional for me,” Kasatkina told Ben Rothenberg.
“So I have to get used to it. But yeah, I’m really happy to start this new chapter of my life and represent Australia on the big stage.”
A ruling in Russia’s supreme court in 2023 classified the international LGBT movement as an extremist organisation, a move that effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism.
Kasatkina has been dating her girlfriend, Natalia Zabiiako, a Russian-Estonian figure skater who won silver at the 2018 Winter Olympics, for almost three years. She has previously spoken about her uncertainty and anxiety over whether she would ever be able to return home to see family and friends.
Daria Kasatkina and Natalia Zabiiako.Credit: Instagram/@kasatkina
“Honestly, with everything that’s going on in my previous country, I didn’t have much choice,” Kasatkina said. “Because for me, being openly gay, if I want to be myself, I had to make this step. And I did it, in the end.
“Australia is the place where I feel that I can be myself and I really am really happy to have this privilege to be part of this beautiful country.”
Kasatkina opened her first press conference since becoming an Australian citizen with the words “what’s going on … mates?” as she prepared for the Charleston Open this week.
“I think it’s obvious to say that Australia is a very welcoming country, very open-minded,” she said. “I mean, everyone is welcome there. And as I said, Tennis Australia, they also made this step forward to me.
“We, together, worked through this process and stuff. And of course, without their support and initiative, I don’t think this would be possible. So I’m really thankful to them. Everything happened pretty fast, and I’m just really happy about it.”
Kasatkina, who has been ranked as high as world No.8, said playing the Australian Open for the first time as a citizen next year would be particularly special.
“The first match is going to be special,” Kasatkina said. “And coming to Australia every year, seeing how much support the players from Australia get there – honestly, I never experienced something like that in my life.
“It’s going to be emotional, for sure, but I think I’m going to enjoy it. First step is Charleston; still a long way to go before the next year. But yeah, I’m really happy and excited.”
clarification
An earlier version of this story said Tennis Australia approached Daria Kasatkina about switching allegiances. Kasatkina has since clarified that it was her team that approached Tennis Australia.