WATCH: Daria Kasatkina explains “inside joke” on-court dance after winning at 2024 US Open

NEW YORK—Daria Kasatkina hoped no one was watching when she celebrated her first-round victory at the 2024 US Open.

“You did the dance?” exclaimed John Morris, her surprised agent, when I asked the No. 12 seed about it in her post-match press conference.

“Dance,” Kasatkina replied, emphasizing the absurdity. “It’s a lot to call it [a dance].”

But dance Dasha did after advancing into the second round on Court 7, defeating Jaqueline Cristian, 6-2, 6-4.

“It’s a crafted dance, part of an inside joke with Natasha,” she explained, shouting out girlfriend Natalia Zabiiako and fellow WTA player-turned-good-friend Arina Rodionova.

“Arina was blessed enough to get to know it a few days ago, so we made a joke that if I win, I’m going to make this dance. I was like, ‘No way I’m gonna do it.’ But I did, and I was hoping that no one was going to notice…”

She sighed.

“They noticed. And I think it’s already got 200K views on US Open’s Instagram page!

“Now they know my amazing dance, my amazing skills. Maybe if I’m going to win the next match, it’ll become a part of the celebration.”

Asked what exactly inspired the moves, Kasatkina (very mindfully) demurred.

“It’s the next level of bullshit,” she said with a laugh.

“It has nothing to do with choreography or anything. It’s just whatever, a joke. It actually goes together with a crafted song I created. I’m not going to sing it now, definitely.

“The dance is the part of our inside joke, which now everyone knows.”

Not since Andrea Petkovic’s “Petko Dance” or Victoria Azarenka’s dabbing has an on-court celebration caught such attention. Might we see more moves from Kasatkina in her next match?