“Ukrainians have a reason not to shake hands”

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Daria Kasatkina (25, WTA 8) is experiencing a mixed first months of the tennis season. In mid-January she reached the final in Adelaide (Aus) – and lost 0: 6, 2: 6 to Belinda Bencic (26, WTA 11). After that, she never won two games in a row again in six tournaments in a row.

The Russian only gets going again with the sand season and reaches the semi-finals of Charleston at the beginning of April. Probably also because she is seeking help. As she reveals as part of the Masters in Madrid (Sp), she works with a psychologist. “It’s hard because we’re like a hamster in a wheel. It’s non-stop, we don’t have many breaks,” she says of life on tour. “It’s always the same, every year it’s more or less the same story, every week.” At the beginning of your career it is exciting, but after a while you get tired of it.

“We waved to each other”

For more than a year, Kasatkina has been confronted not only with this, but also with the war that her homeland is waging against Ukraine. The last time this happened to her over the weekend. In the third round in Madrid she wins 6:4, 6:2 against Lesia Tsurenko (33, WTA 77). When the two go to the net after the match point, the Ukrainian does not look at them.

No reason for Kasatkina to be angry with her. “It is sadder that we are still at war,” says the Russian. “And the Ukrainians have reason not to shake our hands.” And apparently she wasn’t completely ignored. “We waved at each other,” she reveals. “I was happy about that.”

Came out as a lesbian

Brave words from a Russian. It is not the first time that she has rebelled against her homeland. Kasatkina came out as a lesbian last summer, criticizing that there are some “forbidden subjects” in Russia. “For young people who face problems in public, it is very important if athletes or other well-known personalities talk about it.”

All the more important that she dares to do so. However, the tournament in Madrid ends in the eighth finals. She is defeated in three sets by compatriot Veronika Kudermetowa (26, WTA 13).

Source : Blick