The Russian Roland Garros semifinalist tennis player who revealed her homosexuality and was destroyed by the war against Ukraine

Daria Kasatkinanumber 12 in the world and best Russian tennis player in the WTA ranking, “came out of the closet”. The 25-year-old player revealed her homosexuality on Monday in an emotional interview with a sports journalist from her country, in which she was encouraged to speak for the first time in front of the cameras, just days after the Russian parliament presented a plan to expand the ban on “gay propaganda”.

“Do I have a girlfriend? Yes,” confessed the Togliatty, born 25 years ago, in a chat with the journalist Viktor Kravchenkobefore a tennis session in Barcelona, ​​the city where he is training with his coach Carlos Martinez.

“I’ve never talked about it so openly before, in front of a camera, I’m a little nervous, but I like it,” she said.

Shortly after the interview video went viral, Daria shared a photo on her social networks with Natalia Zabiiako, skater born in Estonia, who represented Russia for years (stage in which she was an Olympic and world medalist) and who today competes under the Canadian flag. Next to the picture, the tennis player wrote “My cute cake”something like “My preciousness”, in Spanish.

“There are many taboo topics in our country. And there are more important topics that are prohibited, so don’t be surprised,” Kasatkina reflected on the homophobia laws in force in Russia. “It’s important to talk about it. There are young people who really need support. And when someone from the world of sport or some influential figures talk about it, it becomes easier, of course,” she continued.

The player, who made it to the Roland Garros semi-final in early June, where she lost to Polish leader Iga Swiatek, said how difficult it was for her to hide her true identity for so long.

“In Russia there is a phrase that repeats itself: ‘If you want to be gay’. What nonsense is that? It really seems to me that there is nothing easier in this world than being straight. If you were given a choice, who would you choose to be gay? and make your life more difficult? especially in Russia, “he mused.

And I add: “‘Living in the closet’ for a long time it is difficult and makes no sense. Your truth will keep spinning in your head until you say it. It is clear that everyone chooses how to open up. You have to live comfortable with yourself, this is the most important thing. The rest, fuck you. ”

Daria, however, doesn’t expect things to change anytime soon in her country..

“Judging by how things are going, never,” she said when asked when she thinks it will be possible for a gay couple to walk hand in hand in Russia. “We made some progress some time ago – when the World Cup was played – but it was only for a while.”

Kasatkina, who has reached the tenth step of the ranking and owner of four WTA titles, is not the first tennis player to make her homosexuality public. Currently, there are several gay players in the largest women’s tennis circuit.

One of the most successful of this group is the Australian Samantha Stosurreached fourth place in the rankings and was US Open champion in 2011. Stosur doesn’t usually talk about her private life, but in July 2020 she claimed that she and her partner, Liz Astling, had become Geneva mothers .

The Belgians Alison Van Uytvanck (28 years old and 40th in the world) e Say hello to Minnen (24 years old) have been a couple since 2018 and have also won two doubles tournaments together. Meanwhile the American Emina Bektas85th in the world in doubles, she is married to the English and also a doubles player Tara Moore88th of that ranking.

Kasatkina, on the other hand, was surprised by his country’s official position on homosexuality. Furthermore, in recent days, the Russian parliament presented a project, a project that proposed to widen the ban on the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relations, already in force among minors, and which now also includes adults. Therefore, any public discussion of LGBTQ + identities would be a violation of the law and could be considered a crime.

The Russian was also encouraged to condemn the war in Ukraine and collapsed when her interviewer asked her if she thought that by making her position on that conflict public, she might never be able to return home.

“I want the war to end,” he said, who was unable to play at Wimbledon due to the exclusion of tennis players from his country imposed by the All England Club as part of the invasion sanctions against Russia. “There hasn’t been a day since February 24 that I haven’t read any news or thought about what’s going on. I really don’t have any connection with it, it hasn’t influenced me, thank God. But I think about it a lot. “.

“I think about what the people there are going through, those who have relatives in Ukraine. I can’t imagine what they are feeling, it’s a real nightmare. If only we could do something to stop it, not to change the way people think. except to stop it. I would do something if I could, but unfortunately there is nothing I can do, “he added, before bursting into tears realizing how expensive that statement could cost him.