"She finally brought me to photoshoot" - Daria Kasatkina poses with girlfriend Natalia Zabiiako in candid portrait shot

Daria Kasatkina took to social media on Saturday (September 7) to express just how flattered she was at her girlfriend Natalia Zabiiako arranging a photoshoot for the enamored couple in New York.

Kasatkina, ranked 14th in the WTA rankings, gave a good account of herself during the ongoing US Open. The Russian beat formidable opponents like Sofia Kenin, Greet Minnen, and Alycia Parks before losing to World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka 6-1, 6-3 in the fourth round. She may have, however, felt the blues following her exit from the New York Major.

So, her girlfriend and figure skater Natalia Zabiiako subsequently enlisted the services of famous celebrity photographer "MARO" to lift her spirits. Daria Kasatkina was likely pleased by Zabiiako's gesture, going by her Instagram post, where she uploaded two pictures.

In the first photo, the lovebirds were in each other's arms as they smiled brightly. And in the latter, they were candidly gazing into each other's eyes while sporting some uber-cool shades.

In the caption, the 26-year-old expressed gratitude towards her girlfriend for arranging the photoshoot. She also thanked the photographer for clicking the couple's portrait shots.

"She finally brought me to photoshoot. Thanks so much @marohagopian for those beautiful pictures," Kasatkina wrote, followed by a couple of emojis.

Zabiiako, for her part, appreciated the Russian's heartfelt words with an emotional face emoji and a yellow heart in the comments of the Instagram post.

Natalia Zabiiako's comment on Instagram

Daria Kasatkina has been dating Natalia Zabiiako since 2022. The love-smitten couple has been open about their relationship on their social media handles, which have gained a large following over time.

Recently, the former World No. 7 even took some time off from her campaign at the 2023 Cincinnati Open to celebrate her girlfriend's birthday in intimate fashion.

The two also share a YouTube channel, where they document their experience at professional tournaments through cutesy vlogs.

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A brief look into the career of Daria Kasatkina's girlfriend Natalia Zabiiako

Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert perform at a competitive pair skating event

Daria Kasatkina's girlfriend, Natalia Zabiiako, is a former competitive pair skater. The highlights of the 29-year-old's career include (allwhilet partnering Russia's Alexander Enbert):

• finishing third at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
• finishing as the runners-up at the 2019 Russian Figure Skating Championships.
• winning six senior-level competitive figure skating tournaments.

Zabiiako used to represent Estonia earlier in her career but changed her allegiance to Russia due to insufficient financial support from the Estonian Skating Federation.

She then had a prominent pair skating career with Enbert until the latter retired in 2020. The 29-year-old has since been out of action from the discipline, and it remains unclear whether she will be competitively skating anytime soon.