The Abu Dhabi Open has apologized to Daria Kasatkina for an administrative mistake that listed her as a player from Spain at the tournament’s draw ceremony on Sunday.
The mistake sparked speculation that the Russian Kasatkina, ranked No. 11 in the world, had switched her nationality.
Kasatkina, who is 6-3 in matches this season and 390-220 across her career, has been playing on the tour as a neutral athlete after Russian and Belarusian players were banned from competing under their own flags following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, for which Belarus has been used as a staging ground.
The 27-year-old’s name next to the Spanish flag during the draw for the WTA 500 event raised eyebrows, before her team denied that she had switched allegiance. Shortly after, organizers apologized for the error.
“We sincerely apologize for the error made by one of our suppliers during the live draw, whereby an incorrect nationality was shown alongside the name of Daria Kasatkina,” the organizers said in a statement posted on social media. “This was entirely an administrative mistake and has now been corrected.”
Kasatkina, who has not returned to Russia in more than two years after coming out as gay and being one of the few Russian players who have publicly spoken out against the war, lives in Dubai but also trains in Spain.
“It is incorrect and we can categorically deny she is switching to Spain,” Kasatkina’s team told the BBC. “This carries some strong implications for Daria if the Russian authorities feel she is trying to switch — which she is not.”
Kasatkina is seeded third in the Abu Dhabi tournament, which begins on Monday.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
