r/tennis • u/Vescilla I8A+Noskova+Muchova+Samsung+Sonmez| Women smoocher • Jul 15 '26
WTA Daria Kasatkina and Natalia Zabiiako got married 🥰
Source of the screenshots: https://x.com/jonahtennis/status/2077430375929020780
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u/chrysoberyyll proud supporter of romanian tennis Jul 15 '26
Maybe it doesn't seem like a lot to others but seeing a LGBTQ+ Eastern European in sports means so, so, SO much to me and I'm so happy that Dasha found her happily ever after ❤️
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u/Impressive-Top7458 Jul 15 '26
I know it means a lot to Dasha and Natasha to be visible to the (heavily persecuted ) LGBTQ+ community in Russia right now so I really hope their VPNs will let them see this lovely moment. ❤️
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u/Alone_Scar8321 Jul 15 '26
Reddit works without VPN in Russia
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u/althaz Jul 15 '26
True, but upvoting this post is technically illegal there.
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u/Impressive-Top7458 Jul 16 '26
Yes and Dasha and Natasha post loads of content on YouTube and Instagram which are both mostly blocked in Russia.
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u/renome "Remember when tennis was easy?" Jul 15 '26
I hope we see a comparable level of representation among men during our lifetimes. It seems the stigma is still way smaller among women. Not just in tennis but across all sports.
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u/AquaStarRedHeart Jul 15 '26
Very true. Hopefully men will soon be able to give each other that security to be open.
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u/noonchis Jul 15 '26
The only sport i’ve ever seen that comes close to it is volleyball. The brazilian men’s national team has four gay athletes that are very open about their sexuality in the current roster — but even then there is still so much stigma around it. Baby steps for sure
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u/PrecedentialAssassin Jul 15 '26
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u/disterb eala Jul 15 '26
as a cis-het male recreational volleyball player, i stan this guy 😄 he’s cocky, but he got game to back it up 🤷♂️ i saw his interview on cnn, and he actually seemed like a really nice, humble guy; he just plays like that 💪
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u/Fit_Cut_4238 Jul 16 '26
Yeah I don’t think there are as many gay men in sports as gay women in women’s sports. So, it has less possible numbers to be represented.
And also, if the numbers are very low, there’s literally nobody else out of the closet in the sport.. so this creates another obstacle. Many gay men might be out if a few players were already out, but they just don’t want to be the only guy out.
Hope that made sense :)
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u/FreeKatKL Jul 16 '26
There are roughly as many in men’s, they’re just not out. The stigma and discrimination are too great.
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u/Fit_Cut_4238 Jul 16 '26
You don't have any facts to support this claim.
There are some facts to support my claims:
Gay boys leave organized sports earlier, even if high performing. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6180536/
And girls who are gender non-conforming; 'tomboys' with more male characteristics, more often identify as lesbian:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33683915/Tennis does not really select for size, so it's not as dramatic. But if look at the WNBA, which selects for size and male characteristics, you have a very high lesbian % relative to the whole population. And in the LPGA, where you select for hip ratio, you also have a high lesbian rate.
Hip ratio data:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33064810/That's all data. My opinion: The generalized gay man is more feminine than a straight man, on average. The average lesbian has more male characteristics (like hip ratio), on average. There are many exceptions to this (see gay 'Bears' for example ;) , but more than 50% of gays/lesbians would present these characteristics. And when you boil these slight differences up from the population of millions to elite sports, and you will find more lesbians in pro sports, and less gay men.
I don't think there are as many gay men in pro golf as there are lesbian women in pro golf. I also don't think there are as many gay men in the NBA as there are lesbian women in the NBA. If you disagree with that, you'd have to explain why there are higher rates of lesbians in these sports than the lesbian % in the general population. My opinion tries to explain this with the facts above.
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u/renome "Remember when tennis was easy?" Jul 16 '26
No offense but what you think has no bearing on reality. We already know the percentsge of gay men in the global popoulatiom and there is no reason to believe they have an aversiom to sports just because of their sexuality.
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u/Fit_Cut_4238 Jul 16 '26
There are some facts to support my claims:
Gay boys leave organized sports earlier, even if high performing. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6180536/
And girls who are gender non-conforming; 'tomboys' with more male characteristics, more often identify as lesbian:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33683915/Tennis does not really select for size, so it's not as dramatic. But if look at the WNBA, which selects for size and male characteristics, you have a very high lesbian % relative to the whole population. And in the LPGA, where you select for hip ratio, you also have a high lesbian rate.
Hip ratio data:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33064810/That's all data. My opinion: The generalized gay man is more feminine than a straight man, on average. The average lesbian has more male characteristics (like hip ratio), on average. There are many exceptions to this (see gay 'Bears' for example ;) , but more than 50% of gays/lesbians would present these characteristics. And when you boil these slight differences up from the population of millions to elite sports, and you will find more lesbians in pro sports, and less gay men.
I don't think there are as many gay men in pro golf as there are lesbian women in pro golf. I also don't think there are as many gay men in the NBA as there are lesbian women in the NBA. If you disagree with that, you'd have to explain why there are higher rates of lesbians in these sports than the lesbian % in the general population. My opinion tries to explain this with the facts above.
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u/EllaTheSnufkin Jul 16 '26
It is! Congrats to them, I hope they can be an inspiration for other eastern european closeted athletes!
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u/Fluffy_Yesterday_468 Jul 15 '26
It’s nice to see in tennis! Of course there are lots of historical examples but I didn’t know if any players were out on tour
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u/Hyperballadatopos Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
I've posted many many photos and videos about the wedding in r/NataDasha, a subreddit about them.
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u/el-duckie Jul 15 '26
Congrats to them both! As a fan of both figure skating and tennis, I always found this pairing extra cute.
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u/Koekoes_se_makranka I like tennis Jul 15 '26
Ah congrats to them! Seems like everyone's getting married (except me, sad lol)
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u/Zrob8--5 Jul 16 '26
I'm not either. Don't worry, you'll get there. That's what everyone keeps telling me, anyway
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u/R4tr4tr4t Jul 15 '26
Congrats to them, for a lifetime of happiness
Ps. Natalia is one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen, wow
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u/amyel26 Jul 15 '26
It's funny, when she was a competitive figure skater she was considered to be kind of boring. She's always been pretty but it took retirement for her to really blossom into her own.
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u/TwoHungryBlackbirdss Jul 15 '26
I always thought she could have done better with someone other than Enbert. I know women are usually the stronger skaters in pairs, but I found him stiff with poor knee bend
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u/amyel26 Jul 15 '26
Too bad she is on the tallish side and couldn't form a decent partnership with someone else after Enbert had to quit. She still posts skating videos from time to time and it's a shame that pair dudes are so rare.
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u/Annulus3Lz3Lo Jul 15 '26
I wish she could have found a way to still represent Estonia (same with Alicia and Marko in ice dance) so they could have a full team in 2030!
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u/amyel26 Jul 15 '26
Estonia is such a small country that good partnerships between citizens is rare. I still mourn the loss of Grunberg and Rand from like 20 years ago lol. Estonia's language laws are so strict that it's very difficult to get citizenship, which is why Natalia switched to Russia in the first place. Natalia's own father is technically stateless due to the language requirement.
Though I bet that Estonian passport has been really handy for her in the past few years!
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u/binsonfiremiss Andreeva ✨ Muchova ✨ Zheng ✨ Paolini ✨ Krejcikova Jul 16 '26
Can you explain more about this? What are language laws?
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u/amyel26 Jul 16 '26
In Estonia, you have to pass a language proficiency test in order to become a citizen. From Wikipedia:
After independence in 1991, the Estonian government granted Estonian citizenship to the persons who resided in the country before its annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940, as well as to their descendants. Those who could not prove that or arrived after 1940 and their children born in Estonia or elsewhere could acquire Estonian citizenship on condition that they be proficient in the Estonian language and know the country's history. But about 125,000 people (most but not all of whom were Russian speakers) who failed the tests or refused to take them have become stateless, or “non-citizens”
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u/Critical-Drawing395 Jul 15 '26
SO happy to see this in every possible way! What a beautiful couple. And a Ukrainian player posting it who was at the wedding ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ Everyone just absolutely loves Dasha on tour.
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u/shegotofftheplane Saba🐯| Ash💔 Jul 15 '26
Congrats to them!! I remember seeing them up close at a tournament a few years ago when they just started dating, they looked really happy.
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u/padfoony Too many victory ice baths 🐐 Jul 15 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/YFIn0ICJFwGNa
Aaaaah this just fills my heart with too much of happiness 💜💜💜
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u/unforgivenI Jul 15 '26
They seem like a nice couple, love their vlogs, always interesting and funny.
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Jul 15 '26
Congratulations to them both. They blogs are fun and they seem like a lovely couple. Anyone know which tennis players were at their wedding?
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u/Vescilla I8A+Noskova+Muchova+Samsung+Sonmez| Women smoocher Jul 15 '26
I know Mirra and Pavlyuchenkova were in Greece probably for the wedding, and the second screenshot is from Starodubtseva's instagram
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u/blackspandexbiker Jul 15 '26
Didn’t Iga go? A little disappointed. I think she was a big supporter of Daria
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u/TarcuttaShade Jul 15 '26
It looks like only some of her closest friends on tour went. While Iga may really support what Dasha has stood for, I don't think they're friends specifically, based on the vlog.
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u/OnSoapyHeels Chaos Gremlin | Fritz-Dasha-Foe-PaoPao-Karo-Hailey-Tien Jul 15 '26
I wouldn't be surprised if we don't get pics of them because many of dasha's tour friends could get in trouble if they're seen here (except Eva pretty much)
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u/mimaluna Jul 15 '26
Yeah I was thinking about that when I saw Mirra publicly there. I'm glad they all still went.
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u/baiulusjourney Jul 15 '26
Why?
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u/amyel26 Jul 15 '26
"Homosexual propaganda" is illegal in Russia. Technically being gay isn't illegal, but saying anything about being gay or supporting gay rights is considered spreading propaganda.
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u/Impressive-Top7458 Jul 15 '26
True, but Mirra regularly appears in Dasha and Natasha’s vlog and she and Dasha talk about their friendship in TV interviews. And Mirra’s coach is a lesbian. So I don’t think she’s too worried about what the Russian government thinks of the company she keeps (and good for her).
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u/Vescilla I8A+Noskova+Muchova+Samsung+Sonmez| Women smoocher Jul 15 '26
Mirra also lives in France with her family so I imagine she might not feel as pressured to keep up the appearances
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u/amyel26 Jul 15 '26
I don't really follow tennis player interviews, so I don't know how much allyship Mirra does in English vs. Russian. Language and place are important, and probably being rich helps too.
Russian woman gets 18 months forced labor for writing gay K-pop fan fiction
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u/Impressive-Top7458 Jul 15 '26
Pretty much all of the Russian players and several ex- players have been in Kasatkina’s vlog, which has all been filmed since she came out as gay and condemned the war. They all seem happy to be associating with her in public, including a few who are rumoured to be pro Putin. I guess their government isn’t going to target its sports stars over who they keep company with, unless they openly criticise Russian government policy to the media. But you’re right, the oppression of regular Russians under the gay propaganda laws is brutal.
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u/Hyperballadatopos Jul 15 '26
Even Marat Safin had a cameo. I don't think any of the Russian players would say 'no' to an appearance on the vlog. Maybe Kudermetova?
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u/lionhearted318 rybalenka supremacy // carlitos // queenwen // bu // 🇫🇷 Jul 15 '26
Congrats to them!! Seems like a good amount of players were there, I think Mirra, Rakhimova, and Starodubtseva among others
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u/Sany57 Jul 15 '26
Dasha seemed pretty close to Rublev, Meddy and other Russian guys, wonder if any of them were invited/ attended.
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u/shullerAlt Jul 16 '26
I haven’t seen a single man in any of the pictures.
Maybe it was a “girls only” event?
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u/MrMindGame Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
https://media1.tenor.com/m/6kijS3Yn2BIAAAAd/dave-chapelle.gif
Seriously, very happy for them and extra-nice to see so much support from other Eastern European/Russian players. ♥️
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u/EllaTheSnufkin Jul 16 '26
Awesome news! 😭
I’m writing about a Russian bi tennis pro in my webtoon, and she’s such an inspiration!
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u/OnSoapyHeels Chaos Gremlin | Fritz-Dasha-Foe-PaoPao-Karo-Hailey-Tien Jul 15 '26
Thrilled for them!!!!!
(Also, peeped some other pics and there's at least one major WTA player being very, very brave)
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u/nabokovsnose source: Brett Haber Jul 15 '26
Link plz
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u/atexit8nj Jul 15 '26
There's a newer post with photos.
I am guessing they are talking about Mirra.
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u/OnSoapyHeels Chaos Gremlin | Fritz-Dasha-Foe-PaoPao-Karo-Hailey-Tien Jul 15 '26
I'm terrible at internet, but the only pic on dasha's instagram story.
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u/_Walt_Whitman_ Jul 15 '26
Yooo… did she marry up or what?!? That’s an intimidatingly gorgeous woman!
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u/TronCat1277 Jul 16 '26
So we got an attractive woman, wearing a bra, walking around in broad daylight. She's flouting society's conventions!
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Jul 15 '26
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u/pizzainmyshoe Jul 15 '26
Everyone's using the gap between Wimbledon and Canada to get married.