In response to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, the organizers of Wimbledon decided last April to exclude Russian and Belarusian players from the 2022 edition of the tournament.
To circumvent this ban, the Russian Natela Dzalamidze, ranked 43rd player in the world in doubles by the WTA, changed nationality to be able to participate in the lifting of the Grand Slam in London (June 27 to July 10), reports the British daily The Times on Sunday.
🔺 NEW: A Russian tennis player has circumvented Wimbledon's ban on all competitors from her country by changing her nationality to Georgian https://t.co/CikjWqpTlt
— The Times (@thetimes) June 19, 2022
The newspaper specifies that the 29-year-old player, now Georgian, will participate in the tournament, associated with the Serb Aleksandra Krunic.
Quoted by the Times, a spokesman for the All England Club, which organizes Wimbledon, underlines that the management of the tournament is unable to react to the change of nationality of Dzalamidze.
"The nationality of a player, defined by the flag under which he participates in professional events, is a recognized process which is governed by the circuits (the ATP for men's tennis, the WTA for women's tennis, editor's note) and by the International Tennis Federation," he explains.
Wimbledon begins on June 27.
Several top players, including world number one Russia's Daniil Medvedev and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, are excluded.