{"id":403782,"date":"2026-01-10T08:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T08:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403782\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T08:14:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T08:14:14","slug":"daria-kasatkina-and-the-state-of-australian-womens-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403782\/","title":{"rendered":"Daria Kasatkina and the state of Australian women\u2019s tennis"},"content":{"rendered":"

On an uncharacteristically sizzling July day back in 2018, talented Russian Daria Kasatkina could hardly have foreseen that her Wimbledon third-round performance would help to change the course of women\u2019s tennis. As London baked, a similarly hot Ash Barty, the in-form grass-courter of that season, won four of the first five games before imploding, eventually being beaten in straight sets.<\/p>\n

Only the next year, when Barty broke a\u00a046-year drought for Australian women at the French Open by claiming her maiden singles major, did Kasatkina \u2013 and the tennis world \u2013 start to understand the full ramifications of that come-from-behind win. \u201cThanks to me … after that Ash was the big pain in the ass for everyone,\u201d she later acknowledged with a\u00a0smile.<\/p>\n

Barty\u2019s response to that self-described \u201crock bottom\u201d moment at the All England Club in 2018 \u2013 among other things, she hired renowned mindset coach Ben Crowe \u2013 was a\u00a0major catalyst for her determined ascent to the world No.\u20091 ranking she held for 121 weeks. Then, after adding the 2021 Wimbledon and 2022 Australian Open titles for a glittering CV, the Queenslander announced her sudden retirement at age 25.<\/p>\n

Now, as Tennis Australia \u2013 despite its soaring profits and vast resources \u2013 struggles to fill the void among its female ranks, Daria Kasatkina is once more making local headlines, but no longer as the opponent of a favourite daughter. The former world No.\u20098 and semi-finalist in the 2022 French Open has played under the Australian flag since securing permanent residency in March. She is now preparing to represent her adopted nation in a home grand slam for the first time.<\/p>\n

With a current world ranking of No.\u200940, Kasatkina admitted after last Sunday\u2019s first-round loss at the Brisbane International \u2013 to another Russian-born player, Austria\u2019s Anastasia Potapova \u2013 she was feeling the self-imposed pressure and responsibility of her new status. \u201cI want to pay back to the country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tennis aside, the 28-year-old was motivated to leave Russia for intensely personal reasons.<\/p>\n

She had cited concerns for her safety on two fronts. First, she is an openly gay woman, engaged to retired Olympic silver-medallist figure skater Natalia Zabiiako. LGBTQIA+ activism is effectively illegal in Russia, and Kasatkina has not visited her homeland since coming out in 2022. Second, she has publicly condemned Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Kasatkina cut her season short in October to prioritise her fragile mental health after reaching \u201cbreaking point\u201d during a hugely challenging 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been far from fine for a long time and, truth be told, my results and performances show that,\u201d Kasatkina posted on social media, citing the \u201cemotional and mental stress\u201d of the nationality change, family separation and a demanding schedule. \u201cTruth is, I\u2019ve hit a wall and can\u2019t continue. I\u00a0need a break.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering how small our country is and how hard it is on the world stage to get the competition we need, I think we\u2019re doing all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Brisbane last week, she said of her defection, with the citizenship process still incomplete: \u201cIt was the most important decision in my life, but I would choose it 100 times out of 100 times \u2026 I\u2019ve been accepted here as the person I am. I can feel safe here. Not everywhere you can feel that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kasatkina isn\u2019t the only imported player to switch their allegiance to Australia now that Barty is committed to what she recently called her \u201chappy, boring\u201d life at home. There is a distinctly international flavour at the top of Australian women\u2019s tennis, as the three singles players ranked in the top 100 have all previously represented another country.<\/p>\n

Rising star and world No.\u200932 Maya Joint is a Michigan-raised teenager on the cusp of a debut grand slam seeding. Her father, Michael Joint, was born and raised in Melbourne before his career as a professional squash player took him to the United States. Unhappy with the backing she was getting from the US Tennis Association, Maya sought financial and training support from Tennis Australia in 2023.<\/p>\n

So too Croatian-born veteran Ajla Tomljanovi\u0107, who has played with \u201cAUS\u201d beside her name since switching allegiances in 2014. Tomljanovi\u0107 peaked at world No.\u200932 before a knee injury contributed to a dip to her current slot of 78th.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rennae Stubbs saw the Kasatkina move coming. While at Indian Wells commentating for ESPN in March, the Australian former doubles world No.\u20091 noticed the Russian\u2019s management team meeting with key Tennis Australia officials. In fact, a few months earlier they\u2019d had secret discussions at Melbourne Park with TA chief executive Craig Tiley.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018What\u2019s going on over there?\u2019, and I called it before it happened,\u201d says Stubbs, whose own public coming out was through a far less hazardous interview with this reporter on the Gold Coast two decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was super happy for that, but also because she\u2019s that type of personality that would really embrace being \u2018free\u2019. [Given] the situation in Russia \u2026 and being gay and speaking up against the government, it didn\u2019t surprise me at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like in a lot of ways we\u2019ve kind of saved her, and that to me is what our country is about \u2026 For someone like Kasatkina, who must have felt like she was a bit in limbo about her life in general, I feel really good that we gave her this opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a former top 10 player in the world, and hopefully we utilise her in a way that helps our other kids get better and better. I always say to use [imports] as resources, so take the time to go and talk to her. And she\u2019s so lovely and open, she would be willing to pass on her own experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Stubbs sings the praises of these adoptees, she remains positive about Australia\u2019s homegrown talent.<\/p>\n

The brightest prospect is 17-year-old Queenslander Emerson Jones, a former world No.\u20091 junior who has already achieved a WTA ranking of 147 and earnt an Australian Open wildcard via the local pro tour. Jones joins the more seasoned Kim Birrell and Priscilla Hon, plus promising Western Australian duo Talia Gibson and Taylah Preston, in the main draw.<\/p>\n

All eyes will be on Jones\u2019s transition from juniors to the big time \u2013 a difficult career stage for most. Even Ash Barty \u2013 a Wimbledon girls\u2019 champion at 15 whose senior success came relatively quickly \u2013 was almost lost to tennis when she took a well-publicised break in her late teens.<\/p>\n

Asked to rate the health of Australian women\u2019s tennis, Stubbs, a six-time major winner in doubles and mixed doubles, first contextualises the achievements of Barty and 2011 US Open winner Sam Stosur.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering how small our country is and how hard it is on the world stage to get the competition we need, I think we\u2019re doing all right,\u201d Stubbs says. \u201cI would like for it to be much better, clearly, but it could be worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is enough being done to foster homegrown talent in the post-Barty era? And are imports necessarily a good thing? Kasatkina is the 10th woman to switch citizenship to Australia since 2000, continuing an influx dating back to Hana Mandlikov\u00e1 in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as I\u2019m concerned, if they\u2019re on the world stage with the flag next to their name, I don\u2019t see it as a bad thing,\u201d says Stubbs. \u201cAs long as they\u2019re playing Billie Jean King Cup [the women\u2019s Davis Cup equivalent] and they\u2019re representing [their adopted country].\u201d<\/p>\n

Stubbs says the important thing is for kids to see female players playing for Australia. \u201cThey\u2019re not really thinking, \u2018Oh, where have they come from?\u2019\u2009\u201d she says of the young tennis fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, frankly, if the Aussie girls that were actually born and raised in Australia aren\u2019t cutting it inside the top 100, then I\u2019d rather have [naturalised] Aussie girls in the third, fourth rounds of a major. Maya Joint\u2019s a\u00a0perfect example. Great mover. Unbelievably tenacious. She\u2019s a true little battler and that\u2019s what I love about her. She doesn\u2019t have a huge game, but she just refuses to lose.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it was a shame that Ash pulled the plug so early \u2026 But, at the same time, it comes down to what you want in your career and how hard you want to work and how much you\u2019re willing to sacrifice, and I don\u2019t know how much that\u2019s going to come from TA throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars at a kid. In the end they\u2019ve got to want it themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dogged Kasatkina clearly has this mindset, while now also fielding questions about Vegemite and munching on media-supplied Tim Tams for the cameras at Wimbledon last year.<\/p>\n

She was embraced by the Brisbane crowd to start her first summer as a local, despite the emotion of a disappointing result that included 16 double faults. Having \u201crecharged\u201d after spending much of October in what she calls \u201ca really dark place\u201d, Kasatkina believes she is mentally \u201con the good path right now\u201d.<\/p>\n

Next stop is the Adelaide International before a return to Melbourne Park from January 18 as the host nation\u2019s new women\u2019s No.\u20092. Kasatkina changed Ash Barty\u2019s life more than seven years ago. Can a move to Australia now prove beneficial for Kasatkina too?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on
\n January 10, 2026 as “Making her move”.<\/p>\n

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