Daria Kasatkina is the nation’s newest top-20 player and will compete under the Australian flag for the first time in Charleston this week.
Melbourne, Australia, 31 March 2025 | Dan Imhoff
Daria Kasatkina’s announcement of a successful application to represent Australia has been warmly received with the nation’s new women’s No.1 to compete for the first time under her new flag at this week’s Charleston Open.
In a huge boon for Australian women’s tennis, the Russian-born world No.12 revealed in a social media post at the weekend that she had been approved for permanent residency.
“I am delighted to let you all know that my application for permanent residency has been accepted by the Australian Government,” Kasatkina said.
“Australia is a place I love, is incredibly welcoming and a place where I feel totally at home. 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.”
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While no stranger to Australian fans, having competed at Australian summer events for the past nine years, there’s plenty to get to know about the gifted 27-year-old.
Australia welcomes top-20 women’s player
Not since Ash Barty retired as world No.1 in March 2022 has Australia had a top-20 women’s player and Kasatkina’s immediate switch has ended that two-year wait.
Only Barty’s 15 WTA titles and Sam Stosur’s nine are more than Kasatkina’s tally of eight among players representing Australia in the 2000s.
Kasatkina’s career-high mark of world No.8 came in October 2022, while she ended last season at world No.9 – her third year-end finish inside the top 10 – after she was called up as a late replacement to play the last group stage match of the 2024 WTA Finals, which she lost to Iga Swiatek.
https://twitter.com/DKasatkina/status/1905740057769902207
Kasatkina a player for all surfaces
Kasatkina was one of the three players to reach WTA finals on hard court, clay and grass last year, alongside Jasmine Paolini and Diana Shnaider.
She opened the season with a second successive Adelaide final in January before Jelena Ostapenko halted her title tilt, while a month later, it was Elena Rybakina who denied her in the Abu Dhabi final also on hard court.
After a runner-up showing on clay in Charleston, it was not until the grass swing that she picked up her first silverware of the season against Leylah Fernandez in Eastbourne.
Following another hard-court final in Seoul, Kasatkina snared her eighth career trophy and second of the season in Ningbo, China over good friend Mirra Andreeva, which improved her record in title matches for the year to 2-4.
Her 26 WTA 500 match wins last year was the most since Angelique Kerber’s 27 in 2015, while only Aryna Sabalenka (seven) made more finals in 2024.
Semifinal Kasatkina’s best Grand Slam finish
While adept on all surfaces, Kasatkina is a master of on-court artistry and clay has proved her most fruitful throughout her Grand Slam career.
In 2022, four years after she reached her first major quarterfinal there, she reached her maiden Slam semifinal at Roland Garros, where she fell to eventual champion Swiatek.
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Upon reaching the last four, she suggested it wasn’t all down to playing exceptional tennis.
“French fries make a lot of difference, I must say, and here it’s a good one, in France,” she said.
“But obviously, all together, if you play good, you have to treat yourself. Even if you are not playing good it’s not bad to treat yourself, because you are pushing and you are trying. So it has to be balance in everything, and it’s not easy to find it, but with years and experience it’s coming together.”
Kasatkina reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the first time this year. Her best outing at Wimbledon was a quarterfinal in 2018, while at Flushing Meadows she has twice reached the fourth round (2017, 2023).
Kasatkina and her partner host popular vlog
The down-to-earth Kasatkina is a notable advocate against war in Ukraine and for the LGBTQ+ community.
Always one to keep it real, her personality is aptly reflected in her popular YouTube vlog, What The Vlog, which she started with her girlfriend – Estonian-Russian retired Olympic figure skater Natalia Zabiiako – in an off-season trip to the Maldives in November 2022.
The vlog has since evolved to capture the highs and lows of life as a tennis player with a healthy dose of humour and off-court authenticity, including impromptu player interviews and behind-the-scenes insights.
The vlog initially featured the likes of her closest friends on tour, including Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Australia’s Daria Saville, but has since grown to include interviews with Coco Gauff and semi-regularly with Jelena Ostapenko.
“In the funny way interacting … with the players, to know the players more. Yeah, just to show life on tour, how it is,” Kasatkina said. “Sometimes, yes, it’s luxury [life on tour] … but many times it’s not. Also, there’s a lot of sacrifice, struggling, hard work. So that’s basically what we want to show.”
