💥 Check out this must-read post from BBC Sport 📖
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💡 **What You’ll Learn**:
Russian-born Daria Kasatkina says she can “finally breathe” as she prepares for her first Australian Open as a local player.
Kasatkina was granted Australian citizenship in the lead-up to the tournament, having played as a neutral athlete since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The 28-year-old has not returned to Russia since he came out as gay in the same year, and described the war in Ukraine as a “nightmare.”
The former world number eight said, “Finally I can breathe. I can live and just do my job and not worry about things that are not under my control.”
“Last season was very difficult. I was basically trying to get out of this hole.”
Kasatkina ended the 2025 season early, after saying in October that “I’m on the verge of collapse mentally and emotionally.”
She will begin her tournament campaign against Czech teenager Nikola Bartonkova, and the new Australian number two is expected to receive great support in Melbourne.
“For the first time I will be playing in front of such a large audience, so it will be special,” Kasatkina said.
“I have to control my nerves, because I’ve never been in this situation before.
“This is good pressure, so I will choose this pressure compared to what I have had in the last two years.
“Now I will be playing a Grand Slam on home soil and this is a really special chapter in my life.
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