Russian Rublev would give up passport to free up his tennis

Russian Andrey Rublev would not rule out giving up his passport and changing nationalities if it would allow him to pursue his ATP career all-out.

The player among those banned from Wimbledon due to Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, told a Russian YouTube interviewer that renouncing his troublesome nationality was an option he could pursue.

Rublev apparently fears implementation of a total ban on Russian players and wants to be prepared for that eventuality.

“Yes, to change the passport,” the world No. 8 said. “That would be one of the  solutions.” 

Rublev sat out the grass season – save a first-round loss last month in Halle – and is back on clay this week in Hamburg.

He revealed that he offered a proposal to Wimbledon by which a few Russian players would play doubles or mixed alongside Ukrainian counterparts – a plan rejected out of hand by the All England Club which had banned all Russian and Belarus players from the Championships.

“Teams would not have shown up at the awards ceremony,” he explained. “Use the tennis platform to show how important it is to have world peace…

“… that this is the most important thing now.”

He added: “I’m a tennis player. Thanks to this platform I can deliver the right message. But the answer was always the same:

‘The Russian government would use the Russian result against everyone, 

“No matter the idea, Wimbledon’s answer was always the same.”

Bill Scott

Recent Posts

Swiatek breaks the speed limit in rapid-fire win

Iga Swiatek switched to warp speed after rain delayed her fourth-round match by an hour,…

3 days ago

Alcaraz hits 14 in a row at Indian Wells

Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz ran his hot streak at the Indian Wells Masters to 14…

4 days ago

Sabalenka steamrolls modest Italian opposition

Aryna Sabalenka spent just an hour and a quarter in dispatching Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-1,…

4 days ago

Gauff scrapes through despite double-fault disaster

Coco Gauff wasted five match points while double-faulting four times in the final game but managed…

4 days ago

Draper increasing confidence with IW win

Jack Draper used the confidence earned just weeks ago in Australia to power past Jensen Brooksby…

4 days ago

Tsitsipas turns up the heat with defeat of Berrettini

Culinary enthusiast Stefanos Tsitsipas cooked up a 6-3, 6-3 win over Matteo Berrettini on Sunday,…

5 days ago