Anastasia Potapova caused a lot of reactions after her announcement about the change of citizenship. She shared with her fans via social media that her application for citizenship was approved. Potapova thus became another in a series of Russian tennis players who changed their nationality, after Kamila Rakhimova and Daria Kasatkina did the same.
"I am delighted to let you all know that my application for citizenship has been accepted by the Austrian Government," Potapova's message read.
"Austria is a place I love, is incredibly welcoming and a place where I feel totally at home. I love being in Wien and look forward to making my second home there. As part of this I am proud to announce that starting from 2026 I will be representing my new homeland Austria in my professional tennis career from this point onwards."
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Some fans immediately noticed the similarities between Kasatkina's message when she changed her citizenship, saying that Potapova wrote the message almost identically to Kasatkina's when she decided to become an Australian citizen. Kasatkina also noticed this similarity and immediately reacted on social media, laughing at the similarity of the messages.
"" Kasatkina wrote. "And no, we are not from same agency" she added.
Next challenges
The famous tennis player is now focusing on the upcoming season, after this season brought a lot of mental and physical exhaustion for all tennis players. Her desire is to rest and distance herself from the monotonous life, travel and pressures that tournaments bring.
Whether the example of Kasatkina and Potapova will be followed by other Russian tennis players remains to be seen. Three years have passed since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the situation has not changed significantly.
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This move certainly makes their future on the tennis scene easier.
