Russian Tennis Star Identifies as Georgian to Bypass Wimbledon Ban

Russian doubles tennis player Natela Dzalamidze found a simple solution to widespread bans against Russian players in international sports after the invasion of Ukraine: she changed her nationality to Georgian and will therefore be allowed to play at Wimbledon with her Serbian doubles partner, Aleksandra Krunic.

CBS News quoted Wimbledon officials who said the Dzalamidze followed the “agreed process” for changing her nationality and will be welcome at the Wimbledon tournament when it begins on June 27. She played at the French Open in late May under a “neutral” non-national flag.

Players from Russia and its ally Belarus have been banned from Wimbledon this year, which locked out a few players ranked higher than No. 46 Dzalamidze — including the top-ranked men’s player in the world, Daniil Medvedev. 

“The WTA and ATP professional tennis tours responded to Wimbledon’s ban by not awarding points for results at this year’s event, thereby making the tournament not count towards someone’s ranking. This made some players question whether or not they wanted to participate in the 2022 Wimbledon,” CBS noted.

The BBC quoted Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) officials who said players can change their nationality “by submitting the new passport and/or birth certificate for the WTA to officially have on file for them.”

“In Natela’s case, she submitted a Georgian passport and ID as she has dual citizenship, and, as a result, her nationality has been officially changed within the WTA system,” the WTA said.

The organizers of Wimbledon, the All England Club, seemed unhappy with Dzalamidze’s nationality gambit but said it would defer to the WTA and International Tennis Federation (ITF) on questions about entry requirements.

“In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships,” the club said in April when announcing its ban on players from those two nations.

Dzalamidze, 29, was born in Moscow but her father is Georgian. She told the Times of London on Sunday that she began discussing her nationality change with the WTA in March.

“My decision was made because I am focusing on my career and would like to have the chance to compete at the Olympic Games,” she said.

“If I made the decision to play for Georgia and have a chance to play Wimbledon, why not?” she argued. “At the moment I have my best ranking and my perspective is now much better in Georgia.”