'New' Aussie feels pressure

An emotional Daria Kasatkina (above) says she feels the pressure of delivering success for her new country after playing in Australia for the first time since switching from Russia.

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The openly gay 28-year-old changed allegiance to Australia last March having criticised Russia’s attitude towards LGBTQ people and described the war in Ukraine as a “nightmare”.

The former world No 8, now ranked 40, was almost in tears on Sunday before her first-round match in Brisbane after being given a warm reception by the home crowd.

Kasatkina lost in three sets to Anastasia Potapova, who herself gave up representing Russia last year and now plays for Austria.

“Honestly, when I was stepping on court with all the cheers and everything, I almost started crying,” said Kasatkina.