Russian MP: Tennis player Daria Kasatkina will be forgotten for acquiring Australian passport

Two-time Olympic hockey champion and State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Fetisov condemned tennis player Daria Kasatkina for changing her citizenship, Sport-Express publication reports.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Peter Menzel, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Daria Kasatkina

Fetisov accused Kasatkina of ingratitude, stating that it was her choice that she would have to live with.

"Apparently, there's no point in talking about morality or other values here. I believe we should forget about her and never mention her again," Fetisov said.

Earlier, Fetisov also criticized Kasatkina's parents:

"It seems that Kasatkina was raised in a way that made playing tennis mean finding a new homeland."

On March 29, it was announced that Kasatkina now represents Australia. The former Russian player currently holds the 12th position in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings.

Daria Kasatkina officially changed her sporting nationality to Australian. She shared the news on her social media page. She revealed that the Australian government approved her application for permanent residency.

"Australia is a place that I love and where I truly feel at home," she emphasized.

The tennis player noted that she enjoys being in Melbourne and hopes to settle down in the country as soon as possible.

"I will always be proud of my roots, but I am looking forward to competing under the Australian flag," she concluded.

Kasatkina tumbled out of the 2025 Australian Open in January. Ranked 12th in the WTA and previously Russia's top-ranked player, she achieved her best career result at the Australian Open this season. The only Russian player to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament was Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

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Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina (born 7 May 1997) is a Russian-born Australian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in women's singles by the WTA, achieved on 24 October 2022. Kasatkina has won eight WTA Tour singles titles and one title in doubles. Born to athletic parents who were nationally ranked in athletics and ice hockey, Kasatkina began playing tennis at age six at the insistence of her older brother. She excelled as a junior, winning the European 16s championship and one junior Grand Slam singles title at the 2014 French Open. Kasatkina quickly ascended up the professional rankings, reaching No. 32 in the world while still 18 years old and winning her first WTA title in 2017 as a teenager at the Charleston Open. She rose to prominence in 2018 by finishing runner-up to fellow up-and-coming player Naomi Osaka at the Premier Mandatory Indian Wells Open in a match regarded as representing a new wave of women's tennis. Kasatkina also has won the biggest titles of her career at the Kremlin Cup and at the St. Petersburg Trophy at home in Russia. Following three successful seasons on the WTA Tour, Kasatkina struggled in 2019, falling into the bottom half of the top 100. However, she had a resurgent 2021, claiming two titles to return to the top 30, followed by another two titles in 2022, marking her to return to the top 10