DARIA KASATKINA WAS seconds away from walking onto the court for her fourth-round match at the 2023 US Open. She had looked impressive in her opening three matches, and was now one victory from reaching the quarterfinals at a major for the first time. But in her way stood Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 2.
Kasatkina knew the stakes were high and the world would be watching as she approached ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs for her prematch interview. She paused after Stubbs asked her about her preparation for a night match.
“Well, honestly,” Kasatkina began with a serious tone. “We spent the whole day yesterday thinking how to promote my YouTube channel, and I think this is it.”
She then turned to look directly at the camera.
“Guys, subscribe. Just search my surname on YouTube and you’ll find it. And in case the match isn’t going to be interesting, you can always watch the YouTube.”
The match, as it turned out, wasn’t that interesting — Kasatkina lost 6-1, 6-3 to Sabalenka. But the interview went viral, and did in fact earn a lot of attention to the “What the Vlog” video channel she shares with girlfriend Natalia Zabiiako, a retired pairs figure skater who won a silver medal in the 2018 Olympic team competition. And while to many watching the moment it might have seemed like a shameless plug for yet another wannabe influencer, to others familiar with her story, the act might have been seen as groundbreaking. Or brave. Or even revolutionary.
Kasatkina isn’t only a tennis player — although she is really good at her day job — and, even with some shoutouts to her sponsors, her account isn’t just promotional content. Kasatkina, 26, is Russian and shares publicly that she is gay, in a time where few others from her country feel able to do so. While the Russian Supreme Court recently deemed the “international LGBT movement” an “extremist organization,” Kasatkina and Zabiiako document their life together traveling the world on the WTA Tour, being unapologetically in love.
Their channel now has more than 41,000 subscribers, 134 videos, and several of their videos have gotten more than 100,000 views. Their US Open compilation episode received more than 200,000.
“We’re getting a lot of feedback from Russia, from people who are struggling right now and who are in this terrible position and cannot do anything about it,” Kasatkina, who has also spoken out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, told ESPN this month. “And some of the…
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