"So sweet" - Daria Kasatkina's girlfriend Natalia Zabiiako reacts to picture of Russian 'thinking about her' during Korea Open stay
Daria Kasatkina’s girlfriend, Natalia Zabiiako, has responded to the tennis player’s post following her campaign at the 2024 Korea Open. The top-seed Kasatkina finished as the runner-up after a stunning comeback by Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia, who defeated the Russian 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday.
Kasatkina sailed into the semifinals of the WTA 500 tournament after Emma Raducanu’s withdrawal in the quarter-finals. She then went on to defeat Diana Maximovna 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final, before falling to Haddad Maia, who claimed the fourth title of her career.
Although she didn’t win the Korea Open title, the 27-year-old enjoyed her stay in Seoul and took to Instagram to express her love for South Korea’s capital. In the post, she wrote:
“Seoul stole my soul🫰🏼 Had an amazing time here, can’t wait to come back next year🇰🇷🫶🏼 Thanks @wta_koreaopentennis for an amazing event💜 #travel”
In one of the pictures she uploaded, Kasatkina sits posing as Zabiiako is seen in a mirror in the shape of a speech balloon, making it look like the tennis star was thinking about her girlfriend. The former figure skater reacted to this picture from the post and said:
“It’s so sweet that you think of me 💭🥰😂”
Zabiiako also uploaded a series of pictures from their trip to Korea on her Instagram handle.
This year, the couple featured in a cinema session at the year's first Major in January, the Australian Open.
Daria Kasatkina reflects on being compared to Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova for her outspoken nature
Daria Kasatkina and her girlfriend Natalia Zabiiako featured in a cinema session at the 2024 Australian Open. Following their appearance, the presenter suggested that Kasatkina could now be considered in the list of icons, which included the likes of Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova as they paved the way for others, due to her outspoken nature and the way she and Zabiiako lived openly.
Responding to this, Kasatkina said (10:31 onwards):
“Well, thank you for putting us in the same line but I think we're still far away from these legends. They changed not only the sport but, as you said, the minds of the people. So, yeah we have to be just thankful to them.
I hope one day we can be on the same stage with our YouTube blog. No, but honestly, they’re icons for sure. There's so much respect and uh I mean the way they are it's just amazing.”
It is worth noting that both Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova also came out as gay and have been vocal advocates for LGBTQ+ rights.