Kasatkina was scolded as a traitor after changing her nationality, revealing for the first time multiple reasons for her nationality

Kasatkina was granted permanent residency in Australia in March and will represent the world's sixth-largest country in tennis. Kasatkina was born in Russia, but for a number of reasons, she chose to change her nationality, which she talked about in a recent interview.

In an interview with The Guardian, Kasatkina said her sexual orientation played a key role in the decision. The former WTA world No. 8 came out publicly in 2022, while in Russia, openly gay people have faced very unfriendly treatment for years. She also revealed at the time that she was in a relationship with Russian pair skater Natalia Zabiako.

"It's really hard. To be honest, my orientation was one of the main reasons why I had to take this step and change my nationality. Because if I want to live a free, open life, as I would like it to be, it is impossible in Russia. I had to look for a new place, and I found it. She said.

Kasatkina has also publicly criticized Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. She said it was also an important factor for her to consider before deciding to change to Australian citizenship.

"[Australians] live at peace with each other. The war affected a lot of things, including the political direction of Russia. It wasn't too bad before, but since that 'tipping point', everything has gotten worse. So it's all connected. She added.

Not everyone thought that Kasatkina had made the right decision to give up her Russian citizenship and switch to Australia, and the girl was met with fierce online criticism as a result. According to the Daily Mail, some trolls and black fans viciously attacked Kasatkina's decision to change her nationality, using insulting words such as "traitor" and "rat". However, there are still many people who support the current WTA world No. 14 player. Kasatkina then posted on the X platform (formerly Twitter) expressing her gratitude to her supporters.

"I have been very touched by the positive support you have given me since I made this decision. It was far from an easy decision, but the positive response from the fans and players meant a lot to me and I really appreciate you. Kasatkina wrote.

In her statement, she also thanked Tennis Australia for their help in her change of citizenship. "I would like to clarify that it was my team who reached out to the Australian Tennis Association to enquire about changing their nationality," she wrote. They introduced me to experts in the field of immigration and provided me with a letter of support for my application. I'm proud to represent Australia in tennis and I want to be proud of everyone on and off the court. ”

Kasatkina will become the highest-ranked women's tennis player in the country when she changes her nationality to Australia. Currently, among Australian women's players, Kim Birrell is ranked 62nd and Tomjanovic is ranked 87th.

Currently, Kasatkina is competing in the Madrid Open, where she competes in both women's singles and women's doubles. In singles, the No. 14 seed defeated Parks in the second round and will face No. 21 seed Alexandrova in the third round; In doubles, she will partner Usain Bolt and will face Noskova and Taussen in the first round.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Spark)