MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) officially changed the country affiliation of Russian-born player Daria Kasatkina on Monday, as it went from neutral to Australian.
Kasatkina, 27, announced late last week that she changed her national affiliation and would now be representing Australia.
"I am delighted to let you all know that my application for permanent residency has been accepted by the Australian Government. Australia is a place I love, is incredibly welcoming and a place where I feel totally at home," she said on her page on Instagram (banned in Russia as it’s owned by Meta Corporation, which is designated as an extremist organization in Russia).
"I love being in Melbourne and look forward to making my home there. As part of this, I am proud to announce that I will be representing my new homeland, Australia, in my professional tennis career from this point onwards," Kasatkina stated adding "I am thrilled to start this new chapter in my career and my life under the Australian flag."
Kasatkina, is currently 12th in the WTA (the Women’s Tennis Association) Rankings. She an eight-time WTA tourney champ. To date, her best result in Grand Slams was in 2022 when she reached the semifinals of the French Open. She was also part of the Russian team that won the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup.
President of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) Shamil Tarpishchev warned in late February that at least 20 Russian tennis players could change their national affiliation.
"Things here are complicated - there are no tournaments in Russia, the leagues are idling, we have no financial contributions and cannot finance [tennis] reserves," Tarpishchev said at a session of the State Duma (lower house of Russia’s parliament) Committee on Physical Culture and Sports on February 26.
In 2024, Russian tennis players Alexander Shevchenko and Elina Avanesyan changed their national affiliation and are now playing for Kazakhstan and Armenia respectively.
Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC's recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.
On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
However, the Women Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.