“I am proud to announce that I will represent my new country, Australia, in my professional tennis career from now on.” Daria Kasatkina stunned the tennis world nearly a month ago with her big decision. The former Russian WTA pro is now a proud Australian. She distanced herself from her native country more than two years ago. Since then, she has been living in Dubai while competing on the professional level. In her previous admission, Kasatkina revealed she “didn’t have much choice” but to abandon her Russian identity. She had a bold stance that didn’t align with the nation’s policies. After living in a sort of middle ground, with no flag to represent, she finally chose Australia as her new home. She will now swing her racket for the island nation. But why only Australia? Kasatkina has finally answered.

Ahead of her Madrid Open campaign, she sat down for an interaction, dated April 22, with Sky Sports. Apart from tennis, she was also questioned regarding the move from being a former Russian to an Aussie. When asked about the experience of changing her nationality, Kasatkina said, “Well, that was a bit stressful, I’m not gonna lie.”

Continuing further she added, “A few days before the announcement or like before the first match with the Australian flag it was, I was nervous honestly because if you think about it, it might not change the game because it’s still go and play but still it’s changing a lot, especially in my mind.” Then came the all important question: “Why did you choose Australia?”

Kasatkina simply explained, “Well, I mean, in my situation, I mean I end up in a situation where I had to make certain choices and if I want to live openly and freely as I want to, I had to make this tough, but I think important and the right, decision for my future and Australia, it goes well with my philosophy. The way I see the life, the way I want to live.”

For the uninitiated, she distanced herself from Russia following the obstacles in her personal life. Back in July 2022, she revealed her non-binary identity while talking to Russian blogger Vitya Kravchenko. Plus, she also announced her relationship with Russian-Estonian figure skater Natalia Zabiiako. She was going through the struggles of “living in the closet.” In short, she threw light on how homosexuality and LGBTQ+ rights were seen in her native country. As a result, Kasatkina decided to move away from Russia.

Now that she’s an Aussie, she’s extremely happy with choosing the island nation. “So Australia, it’s an amazing country. I have been there like couple of times already and it’s a very welcome country where everyone is just, you know, just living all along together and it feels great and I’m really happy to be very welcome there.”

And guess what? The World No.14 has already received a warm reception and praise for her decision. Her ‘new’ WTA compatriots are delighted to have her play for Australia.

Daria Kasatkina receives praise after choosing Australian nationality

Daria Kasatkina‘s Aussie colleague Ajla Tomljanovic was delighted with her decision. In a media interaction, she confessed that despite the news coming “out of nowhere,” she was “thrilled.” The 31-year-old said, “I think she’s an amazing person, an amazing player, and I just want her to be able to play for us in the BJK Cup (Billie Jean King Cup) and the Olympics. I think that she is an incredible addition. But even as a person, I just think she fits everything Aussie, so I’m excited for her.” 

Similar to Kasatkina, Tomljanovic is not a born Aussie. She’s actually a Croatian native who shifted to Australia in 2013. She chose Brisbane as her place of residence. She believes her new compatriot will soon adapt to the country. “My biggest thing is I was just very grateful — and I’m sure she will be as well, but at the same time, just be yourself, you know? Because she’s already great as she is,” Tomljanovic added.

Meanwhile, Kasatkina’s friend and Australian WTA pro Daria Saville is also overjoyed to have her onboard. Mentioning Saville, Kasatkina previously revealed, “Dash (Saville) is talking non-stop. Since I announced, she’s (been) non-stop. On the phone, she calls me, then she keeps sending me some stuff like apartments and houses around her location (in Melbourne).”

Kasatkina’s first WTA event as an Australian was the Charleston Open earlier this month. Unfortunately, she couldn’t go beyond R16 there. This week, she’s going to compete at the Madrid Open. She’s set to kick off her campaign against America’s Alycia Parks on Friday. Do you think the 27-year-old Aussie will deliver a promising run at the event? Let us know in the comments below.