Openly gay tennis player Daria Kasatkina switches allegiance from Russia to Australia

Daria Kasatkina, the only openly gay tennis player in WTA's top 100, completed her allegiance switch last week, after she was granted permanent residency. While she was born in Russia, and has always represented that country, she hasn't returned to Russia in the last two and a half years, after coming out in 2022. She left Russia due to the strict laws persecuting LGTB people and advocates, a movement she was forced to do if she wanted to be herself, she said, via Reuters.

Kasatkine will represent Australia for the first time at the ongoing Charleston Open, and she expressed to the press her feelings about the moment. "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."

Since leaving Russia in 2022, Kasatkine has trained in Spain and lives in Dubai, but now plans to stay in Melbourne. She says that "she didn't have a choice" about leaving Russia. She has also been critical about Russian's invasion of Ukraine, and was even targeted by a Russian politician, asking for her to be treated as a foreign agent, acting against Russian interests.

As pointed by BBC, other Russian-born players switched their nationality in the last few years: Natela Dzalamidze represents Georgia and Alexander Shevchenko represents Kazakhstan.