Power couple Daria Kasatkina, Natalia Zabiiako launch joint Instagram account

It’s a rite of passage for every power couple.

World No. 12 Daria Kasatkina and girlfriend Natalia Zabiiako, a former figure skating champion, already run a popular Youtube channel, Zabiiako & Kasatkina, where they document the ups and downs of life on the WTA Tour—and now there will be even more behind the scenes content, as the pair recently launched their own joint Instagram account.

The first posts on their new account feature snaps from the couple’s trip to Japan and China as Kasatkina kicked off the Asian Swing at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo—a topic that was covered extensively on a 69-minute episode of the latest Zabiiako & Kasatkina vlog. (Video below)

According to Zabiiako, visiting Japan for the first time in years felt like stepping into “another world”. And the proof was in the wacky footage of their visit to one of Tokyo’s controversial “owl” cafes, their hunt for a Bulbasaur in the massive Pokemon store and the many claw games they played at an arcade.

Kasatkina and Zabiiako also snagged cameos from the likes of Elena Rybakina, Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova—the latter sharing a few hilarious “life hacks” for overcoming jet lag with her Tokyo practice partner.

“I drink a lot of coffee. This is probably the only thing that saves me, only coffee and nothing else,” Pavlyuchenkova told Kasatkina, as she clutched a cappuccino. “As for life hacks, you need to drink more water, so they say. Drink more water, now I told you the life hack.

“I was on my feet all day, I was walking around the city. I went to the gym after the plane, didn’t sleep… and it still sucks. Nothing helps, so that’s it… forget everything I just said!”

But the lighthearted vlog turned serious as the tournament progressed, as extreme heat once again became a major concern for players during Kasatkina’s run to the quarterfinals.

“After the first set… You know when your whole body starts to tickle from the inside, but at the same time it seems to be freezing from the inside?” Kasatkina said after her second-round match against Despina Papamichail, which took place on a day where the average temperatures reached 95 degrees (35 C).

“And it becomes somehow super light, but light not in the way that you’re like ‘Cool, I feel so light and easy’ but it’s like you’re leaving your body...

“Fans come to watch high-quality tennis… It’s difficult to show super high-quality tennis when you’re just trying not to faint. You think not only about how to play, what to do, but you think about how not to die.”

After the match, Kasatina called out tournament organizers for not closing the roof on Ariake Coliseum to relieve players and fans from the brutal direct sunlight. And in the couple’s vlog, the world No. 12 doubled down on her criticism, calling out WTA leadership for also failing to properly supervise the conditions and intervene on behalf of players’ safety.

“Today at the match, at 3-1 in the second set (the supervisor) came to the court, looked around and left,” Kasatkina alleged. “I want them to sit opposite of our benches, facing the sun, and watch our match. What’s the problem?”

“One season, I want the WTA delegation to travel with us the whole season, from beginning to end, and tell us how they feel about this,” she added. “I don’t even ask them to play tennis. I just ask that for one year they experience the calendar of an average Top 30 tennis player and just attend the matches in this weather.

“That’s it, and I think it will be enough to understand everything.”

After reaching the quarterfinals in Tokyo—where she fell to No. 2 seed Jessica Pegula in straight sets—Kasatkina moved on to Beijing, reaching the second round at the China Open before falling to home hope Wang Xinyu.

Currently in the quarterfinals at the 500-level Zhengzhou Open, No. 8 seed Kasatkina was set to face Ons Jabeur on Friday before the No. 4 seed withdrew due to a knee injury.