MOSCOW, July 20, Vasily Bogdanov. Former world number one, Olympic champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov said that tennis players Daria Kasatkina and Andrei Rublev did not say anything in a recent interview for which they could be convicted. Earlier, in an interview published on the YouTube channel of journalist Viktor Kravchenko, Russian tennis players did not rule out changing sports citizenship if the Russians will be suspended from all tournaments.» To be honest, I did not really understand the message of this whole interview. If they want to express their position, they would always be provided with a certain platform. Therefore, initially I was against the fact that the interview was aired on some channel by some blogger «Nevertheless, I don't think that something was said there for which the guys could really be condemned. I understand that this interview was sanctioned by Ms. Sofya Tartakova, and all questions were asked only at her suggestion. But then again — I didn’t understand the meaning of this conversation,” Kafelnikov said. In early March, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) suspended the membership of the Russian Tennis Federation and the Belarus 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 tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in a neutral status.
