Russian tennis star confirms she switched allegiance to Australia because she’s gay

Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina says she “didn’t have much choice” but to switch allegiance to Australia last month because she is an out gay woman and critical of the war in Ukraine.

On Saturday (29 March), the 27-year-old world No. 12 confirmed she would play for Australia in her professional career going forward after the Australian government granted her permanent residency.

Prior to this she had been splitting her time between Dubai and Spain and had not returned to Russia for two-and-half years after coming out as gay in 2022 and revealing she was dating fellow Russian athlete Natalia Zabiiako, an Olympic figure skater.

“With everything going on in my previous country, I didn’t have much choice [to switch allegiance],” she told journalists on Monday

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