Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina comes out as gay

Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina announced on Monday that she is gay and found "living in the closet" impossible.

The 25-year-old, a semi-finalist at last month's French Open, said she was inspired to come out after Russian soccer striker Nadya Karpova revealed she was gay in a country where homosexuality is frowned upon.

"Living in peace with yourself is the only thing that matters, f--k everyone else," Kasatkina told Russian blogger Vitya Kravchenko after telling him that she has a girlfriend.

Russian lawmakers have proposed extending a ban on the promotion of "non-traditional" sexual relationships to minors to include adults as well.

Russia's existing "gay propaganda" law, passed in 2013, has been used to stop gay pride marches and detain gay rights activists.