Kasatkina Laughs at Potapova's Statement on Leaving Russia

Fans brought this Kasatkina's attention on social media, who found this situation amusing. She quote-tweeted a post showing the two statements, adding a skull emoji (meaning "dead," which is Gen-Z slang for something being funny).

Kasatkina added, "And no, we're not from the same agency" with a crying laughing emoji. The 28-year-old wanted to distance herself from her peer's statement, even engaging with some fans on X (formerly Twitter).

One fan asked, "Why the coincidence?" to which Kasatkina replied, "I'm a wrong person to ask this." Another fan said, "Perhaps you both used AI," and Kasatkina clapped back, "Perhaps not."

Kasatkina finished the year as the WTA World No. 37 with a singles record of 19-22 with zero titles. Meanwhile, Potapova finished as the No. 51 with a singles record of 24-16 with one singles title (the Transylvania Open).

The timing of Potapova's decision was interesting, as she recently played in the Russian "Northern Palmyra Trophies" exhibition event in St. Petersburg, alongside other top Russian players. The exhibition drew criticism from many tennis fans.

According to Tennis World USA, Potapova had recently pushed for Russa to be accepted in international team events again.

"I can't say anything about Potapova. For us, if this isn't a complete surprise, then it's a surprise that she did it. She lived in Austria for two years. I can only assume she wants to participate in the Olympics. She doesn't make our team based on the rankings. She kept complaining about visa problems. It disrupts our rhythm. Purely mundane things," said Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpischev.

"Athletes don't change their home countries, but their sporting citizenship. Because everyone wants to play. Why do they leave at this time? Because other countries are recruiting for the Olympics and, as a rule, they take our reserves.

They pay a lot of money. It's a combination of a person's thinking about how to play better and how to best achieve results. With this attitude, they change their sporting citizenship, but not their home country."

The 2026 WTA season begins in less than one month, so fans can expect more exciting storylines soon.