Knife in the back. Scandalous tennis player Kasatkina supported the ban of Russian athletes

The US Open is entering the homestretch, but there are no Russians in the women’s section of the tournament for a long time. Our tennis players managed to fly out of the draw already in the first week, and the main hope of the Russian fans, Daria Kasatkina, could not even overcome the first round.

It is quite possible that for the ninth racket of the world this is the last Grand Slam tournament in a neutral status due to belonging to Russia. After her revelations about the suspension of our athletes, the 25-year-old native of Togliatti is getting closer to changing her citizenship.

It is very painful to lose such talent, but Dasha made a choice in favor of a career.

“I agree with the ban of national teams”

After the triumphant August, when Kasatkina won two WTA tournaments and returned to the top 10 in the rankings, everyone who was not indifferent to our tennis player counted on success. But this year’s last Grand Slam tournament in New York was very disappointing. Our athlete lost to British Harriet Dart in the first match.

Many agreed that during the game Dasha received a sunstroke or felt unwell, because after the second game she vomited. She gave the third set almost without a fight and for the first time since 2020 did not qualify for the second round of the Big Four tournaments.

Photo: © Frey/TPN / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

A week after this failure, an interview with a tennis player was published on YouTube, after which many fans and experts will definitely not be happy. The words of the Russian woman about supporting the removal of our federations from international tournaments became the most discussed. They can be perceived as a stab in the back and disrespect towards colleagues from other sports who plowed no less in training and made no less sacrifices to achieve results.

– I agree with the ban of national teams, of course. And, probably, all structures supported by public funding, – said the tennis player.

Given the resonance that Dasha’s previous statements caused in Russia, such a statement now does not look surprising. But such a presentation draws even bolder the line between Kasatkina and our country. At the same time, it is noteworthy that Dasha separates her sport, emphasizing her non-participation in the Russian Tennis Federation.

– I do not quite agree with the ban of individualists – such as we are. For example, me, Rublev, Khachanov, Pavlyuchenkova. Specifically, in the case of us, I do not think that this is correct.

Change of citizenship

Over the past summer, the best tennis player in Russia has gradually prepared her audience for the fact that she will soon try on the flag of another country. It will not work forever to speak in a neutral status and criticize Russia.

– I think that during my professional career I will no longer be able to compete under the Russian flag. I am proud to be Russian. And there how it will be. If my career will depend on it, then the choice is obvious. I want to keep playing tennis. For me, this is priority number 1. And I play for myself, – says Kasatkina.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Filippov

Naturally, changing sports citizenship is now much more difficult than a year ago due to large-scale sanctions against our country. But when a top tennis player publicly declares that she is impressed by Switzerland, and she would like to have a passport of this state, then it seems that receiving an appropriate offer is just a matter of time.

Now Dasha is 25 years old, and she has this time. At the same time, she perfectly understands that she has nothing to expect in her current status. After her confession of homosexuality, a huge number of former athletes and officials attacked the girl with criticism. Of course, now there will be more negative towards the still acting Russian tennis player. So it becomes obvious that we have the right to expect any active actions from it to change its status of belonging to Russia.

However, the emotional component does not seem to be the main one now. Kasatkina herself chose a different path, not connected with Russia. And the hardest thing is to realize how quickly we are losing a top athlete. There are only a few tournaments left where we can still cheer for Kasatkina. It is very likely that very soon Dasha will enter the court under a different flag. And we all need to be ready for it.