A tennis star, originally from Russia, stated that she felt compelled to change her nationality after publicly coming out as gay.
Daria Kasatkina was born in Tolyatti and represented Russia in tennis throughout her career.
However, after revealing her sexuality and openly criticizing Russia`s LGBTQ+ laws and the war in Ukraine, the world No. 12 has not returned to her home country for two and a half years.
The tennis player has resided in Dubai and Spain during this time but successfully applied for permanent residency in Australia.
This was approved last week, allowing her to officially change nationalities for the WTA.
Kasatkina, 27, admitted Monday was an “emotional” day as the rankings were updated, and her name was now displayed next to the Australian flag.
The 2022 French Open semi-finalist and 2018 Wimbledon quarter-finalist said: “It`s my first official day as an Australian player.”
“Honestly, it feels different, I`m not going to lie.”
“It`s emotional for me. I have to get used to it.”
“But I`m really happy to start this new chapter of my life representing Australia on the big stage.”
Kasatkina publicly announced her relationship with figure skater Natalia Zabiiako in 2022.
Her outspoken criticism of the Kremlin`s actions in Ukraine also led a Russian politician to unsuccessfully request she be labeled a “foreign agent” – someone acting against Russian interests.
Despite anticipating backlash in Russia, she bravely declared: “Living in the closet is impossible. It is too hard, it is pointless.”
“Living in peace with yourself is the only thing that matters, and f*** everyone else.”
Kasatkina realized she could not even be seen holding her partner`s hand in public in Russia and is following in the footsteps of Daria Saville, nee Gavrilova, who switched nationalities to Australia in 2015, six years before marrying fellow tennis player Luke Saville.
She has even received helpful advice and encouragement from Saville, who welcomed her as a “new neighbor” on Instagram.
Kasatkina – who playfully called journalists “mates” in a press conference, in typical Australian fashion – added: “With everything happening in my previous country, I didn`t have much choice [but to switch allegiance].”
“For me, being openly gay, if I want to be myself, I have to take this step, and I did it.”
“I have to adjust to it a bit because, for a couple of years, I didn`t hear anything. But it`s something nice to get used to.”
“Daria is constantly… she keeps sending me things like apartments and houses near her.”
“I love being in Melbourne and look forward to making it my home.”
“Coming to Australia every year, seeing the incredible support Australian players receive there — I`ve never experienced anything like it before.”
“It`s going to be emotional, for sure, but I think I`m going to enjoy it.”
She also shared on her Instagram story that she felt “incredibly touched” by the support for what was a “far from easy decision.”
Like all Russian and Belarusian players, including Grand Slam champions Aryna Sabalenka and Daniil Medvedev, Kasatkina has been playing without a flag as a consequence of the invasion of Ukraine.
However, her first tournament representing Australia is this week`s Charleston Open in South Carolina, where she hopes to add to her eight career titles – the first of which she won in Charleston in 2017.
Natela Dzalamidze and Alexander Shevchenko have also changed their sporting nationality away from Russian, to Georgian and Kazakhstani respectively, in recent years.
Elena Rybakina, born in Moscow and a former Wimbledon champion, switched to representing Kazakhstan in 2018 for financial reasons.
