Sports Pundit
Tennis

Russian Tennis Player Changes her Nationality to be able to Play at Wimbledon

Russian Tennis Player Changes her Nationality to be able to Play at Wimbledon

Russian-born tennis player Natela Dzalamidze has changed her nationality to Georgian in order to be able to play at Wimbledon following the Lawn Tennis Associations ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

The current World No.43 is now under the Georgian flag on the WTA list. The change comes after than ban which the LTA implemented in solidarity with Ukraine which was invaded by Russia, assisted by Belarus, earlier this year.

Earlier, she had played in the French Open under a neutral flag. The WTA had stated that Dzalamidze had presented her passport as proof that she is a dual citizen and is allowed to play at LTA events.

“Player nationality, defined as the flag they play under at professional events, is an agreed process that is governed by the Tours and the ITF, a Wimbledon spokesperson.

As a result of the ban, the WTA and the ATP have both announced that they were stripping the Grand Slam event of its ranking points.

Due to the ban, some of the big names in tennis are not allowed to play, including the current World No.1 Daniil Medvedev, who is Russian.

Wimbledon will start on June 27.