MELBOURNE, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Anastasia Potapova on Sunday played down fans' reactions over similarities between the announcement of her nationality switch and that of fellow Russian-born player Daria Kasatkina, saying there was nothing wrong with borrowing "perfect words".
In December, the world number 55 switched international allegiance to Austria and posted about it on social media, with sharp-eyed fans quickly spotting striking similarities to Kasatkina's announcement from when she began representing Australia.
In her post, Potapova said Austria was "a place I love, is incredibly welcoming and a place where I feel totally at home", the exact same wording that Kasatkina used to describe Australia in March.
Kasatkina also addressed the parallels on X, posting: "no, we are not from same agency."
Asked about it at the Australian Open, Potapova told reporters: "Well, I don't find anything wrong with that because you cannot say it in a better way.
"And why not? It was perfect words. I loved it. We loved it with my team, with everyone. So, yeah, we gave it a shot," she added, speaking after her 3-6 7-5 6-2 win over Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens in the first round.
"I don't think that it's something terrible happened. I think the media just blew it up just because they didn't like me with the fact of it happening. I mean, who cares about posts, right?"
Potapova faces Briton Emma Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, in the second round.
The 24-year-old had been playing on the WTA 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.
She is among a number of Russian-born tennis player to have changed their nationalities, including Kasatkina, Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan), Kamilla Rakhimova (Uzbekistan) and Polina Kudermetova (Uzbekistan).
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
