MOSCOW, Jul 19 Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev said he could change sports citizenship in the event of the removal of Russians from all tournaments. In April, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) refused to allow Russian and Belarusian tennis players to the Wimbledon tournament due to the situation in Ukraine. In response, in May, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) decided not to award rating points to participants.
"If we are talking about what had to be done to play at Wimbledon then I had to change my passport. Then participation would be acceptable. If we assume that we will be banned at all tournaments, and I will want to continue my sports career, then changing citizenship is one of the ways out. In fact, there will be nothing left for me", Rublev said in an interview published on the YouTube channel of journalist Viktor Kravchenko.
Earlier, the first racket of Russia, Daria Kasatkina, also did not rule out changing sports citizenship due to sanctions against Russian sports .In early March, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) suspended the membership of the Russian Tennis Federation and the Belarusian Tennis Federation, tennis players from these countries were suspended from participating in the Billie Jean King Cup. Russian athletes have the right to take part in WTA and ATP tournaments in a neutral status.