Had Elena Rybakina not made the switch to Kazakhstan, she would have been cooling her heels at her home alongside other Russian (and Belarussian) players. Slapped with a ban imposed by Wimbledon authorities, tennis players from the two nations were forced to give the season’s grass-court majors a miss. A divisive decision, if any, the Championships have been shorn of some top names ranging from men’s no. 1 Daniil Medvedev to twice Australian Open Champion Victoria Azarenka. Despite the ban, the 23-year-old still managed to bring smiles to a small corner in Moscow in a circuitous manner.

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Representing Russia at the youth level, the Wimbledon champion swapped nationalities in 2018. Wooed by Kazakh Tennis Chief and billionaire Bulat Utemuratov, she was among a host of Russian players to switch over to the former Soviet republic. The list includes Alexander Bublik, Mikhael Kukushkin, Dmitry Popko and Andrey Golubev.

At 19, facing the decision to continue with her tennis in Russia or take up offers from American universities, the young Rybakina opted to focus on her tennis. At about the same time, the Kazakh federation began to recruit Russian players to bolster the country’s tennis team.

“I had offers to universities in America, but I didn’t even think about it because I wanted to keep playing. I had like 15 offers. My dad really wanted me to go. He thought if I didn’t go to university, at home I would not get the same education. Because of tennis, I could get a better education. But he saw the results and he loves tennis, so he said ok. Then the Kazakhstan Federation made me an offer and the decision was easier. I changed my citizenship to Kazakhstan because they believed in me and they offered. I was not so good when they offered. So they believed in me and they’re helping me a lot,” she told WTA Insider in 2020.

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Repaying that faith with her maiden Grand Slam title, Rybakina will look to bring further glories to the Central Asian country on tennis courts across the globe.