Daria Kasatkina was incorrectly listed as representing Spain during the official draw ceremony for the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open on Sunday, fueling what her management later called “incorrect” speculation that she will be, or has any plan to, switch nationalities.
The tournament later apologized for what it called an “administrative mistake” that “has now been corrected.” But representatives for Kasatkina, who reached the final in Abu Dhabi last year, later told BBC Sport that the error could be “potentially quite harmful” to her.
Russian and Belarusian tennis players, including Kasatkina, have played as neutral athletes, listed without a flag, since shortly after the Russian government’s decision to invade Ukraine, with Belarusian support, nearly three years ago. The 27-year-old has not returned to Russia in the last two-and-a-half years, following her decision to both come out as a lesbian and condemn her home nation’s invasion of its sovereign neighbor in an interview with a Russian vlogger in July of 2022.
Kasatkina currently lives in Dubai, and has trained in Barcelona, Spain for many years.
