By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, October 6, 2025
Photo credit: VCG/Getty
Daria Kasatkina concedes she’s hit an emotional wall and closed the curtain on her 2026 season.
In a candid post on social media, the 28-year-old Kasatkina cited several factors—the grind of the long WTA season, the challenges she’s facing changing nationalities from Russian to Australian and the fact she’s not seen her father in four years—contributing the mental and emotional strains she’s feeling.
“I’ve been far from fine for a long time and, truth be told, my results and performances show that,” Kasatkina posted on social media.
“I am at breaking point and sadly I am not alone.
“Add in to the mix the emotional and mental stress related to my nationality switch and there is only so much I can deal with and take as an individual woman. If this makes me weak, then so be it, I’m weak.
“However, I know I am strong and will get stronger by being away and recharging. It’s time I listened to myself for a change.”
“So I am joining the 2025 tap-out club,” Kasatkina wrote in a reference to both Elina Svitolina and Paula Badosa, who have pulled the plugs on their seasons.
Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek also suggested she may start opting out of some mandatory WTA events because the arduous schedule is “pretty crazy” and “overwhelming.”
“When I look at the schedule, I think we’re playing too much, and the schedule is crazy. That’s the first thing probably that will pop to my head,” Swiatek told the media in Beijing last week a few days before she suffered a third-set bagel against Emma Navarro. “That’s why I try to split the year for swings and just focus on the next swing.”
World No. 19 Kasatkina reached the Roland Garros round of 16 and third rounds at both Wimbledon and the US Open, however she’s also suffered a string of opening-round exits. Since her French Open fourth round appearance, Kasatkina fell in the first round in six of nine tournament starts.
