The Russian tennis player found a way to get around the Wimbledon ban imposed on Russians and Belarusians due to the invasion of Ukraine by changing her citizenship to Georgian, according to a report published by the British newspaper The Times.
And Natila Dzalamidze, a 29-year-old doubles specialist ranked 44th in the world, could take on Serbian Aleksandra Krunic in women’s doubles when the third Grand Slam kicks off on June 27.
The All England Club, the organizers of Wimbledon, decided in April to ban the participation of Russians and Belarusians due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which means the absence of top players and players led by world number one Daniil Medvedev, his compatriot Andrei Rublev, Belarusian Arina Sobolenko and her compatriot Victoria Azarenka.
But a spokesman for the All England Club told The Times newspaper that the organizers of the English Championship could not interfere with the change of Dzalamidze’s citizenship, since this is an issue related to the powers of the Women’s Professional Association (WTA). ) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and that the player has complied with the eligibility conditions.
“A player’s nationality, which is determined based on the flag they play in professional competition, is an agreed process governed by tournaments (such as the ATP and WTA) and the International Tennis Federation,” the spokesman said.
The ATP and WTA associations were dissatisfied with Wimbledon’s decision to remove the Russians and Belarusians and responded in May by suspending the distribution of ranking points at the tournament.
The professional league considered the decision of the English championship “unfair”, and the WTA regarded it as a “form of discrimination”, expressing “great disappointment”.
And the organizers of the championship of England reacted to these “disproportionate” decisions of the two associations, expressing “deep disappointment” in a statement. The All England Club felt that the deprivation of ranking points from the tournament was “disproportionate in the context of the exceptional and dire circumstances of this situation”.
Unlike Wimbledon, the organizers of the US championship decided to allow the Russians and Belarus to participate, but under a neutral flag, which would give Medvedev the opportunity to defend the title he won last year at the expense of Serbian Novak Djokovic.
