Russian tennis player becomes Australian due to her orientation

The 27-year-old Daria Kasatkina, ranked 12th in the world in tennis, no longer holds a Russian passport.

The top tennis player saw "little other choice" but to change her nationality due to her sexual orientation, opting for Australia. Kasatkina is attracted to women and has a relationship with a figure skater. This is apparently still not accepted in Russia at present, which is why she will now represent Australia.

As a result, the 27-year-old player received the green light for a permanent residency and will have her new home base in Melbourne.

"With everything going on in my homeland, I didn't really have a choice", she referred from the tennis tournament in Charleston (USA) to Russia's hostile stance towards people with a different orientation.

"As openly gay, if I want to be myself, then I have to take this step. And that's what I did."

(FVDV - Source: IG - Picture by ©Peter Menzel via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)