In the absence of Russian and Belarusian players, deprived of the prestigious London tournament by decision of the British authorities after the invasion of Ukraine, there will still be a player trained in Russia in the final on Saturday against Tunisian Ons Jabeur.

Rybakina indeed started tennis in clubs of the Russian capital and was even trained by one of the pioneers of the discipline in the USSR Andrey Chesnokov, before becoming world N.3 among juniors.

As she began to make a name for herself on the circuit, she took Kazakh nationality in 2018, attracted by the financial support of the local wealthy federation chaired for a long time by Bulat Utemuratov, whose personal fortune is estimated at 3.5 billion dollars according to Forbes magazine.

Kazazhe Elena Rybakina celebrates her Wimbledon semi-final victory over Romania's Simona Halep on July 7, 2022 Adrian DENNIS AFP/Archives

If his past and his Russian ties resurfaced in the particular context of this 2022 edition of Wimbledon, Rybakina quickly evacuated the subject.

"I've been playing for Kazakhstan for a long time. I'm really happy to represent this country," she said after her semi-final success against Simona Halep.

While she is said to be domiciled in Moscow, she recalled that she trained in Slovakia and Dubai when she is not taking part in tournaments: "I don't live anywhere", she said to evacuate the question.

The Dzalamidze case

Rybakina is not an isolated case.

Yulia Putintseva, 33rd in the world and quarter-finalist at Roland-Garros in 2016 and 2018, then at the US Open 2020, was also born in Moscow.

Ditto on the men's circuit: the three best Kazakhs, Alexander Bublik (38th) - who reached the third round of Wimbledon for the first time this year -, Mikhail Kukushkin (164th) and Dmitry Popko (195th), were all born in Russia .

Kukushkin, 34, is also one of the first to take Kazakh nationality, in 2008.

Kazahke Mikhail Kukushkin during his match against Taylor Fritz during the Miami Masters 1000 on March 26, 2022 MATTHEW STOCKMAN GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Archives

"At that time I was around 150th in the world and I was struggling, he explained. Unfortunately in Russia nobody was interested in me. Kazakhstan came and provided me with everything I needed" , continued the one who is 164th in the world.

At Wimbledon, another case was debated.

Natela Dzalamidze represented Georgia for the first time, with the aim of being able to participate in the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Born to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, this doubles specialist had both nationalities, but the decision of the British authorities on the exclusion of Russians and Belarusians prompted her to become Georgian just in time for the London tournament .

"I thought I would do it by the end of the year. It's not like I'm applying for a new passport, I've had a Georgian passport for a long time," Dzalamidze defended.

"Russian players are banned and I thought, why should I lose the opportunity to play? I'm 29 now. How many more years will I be able to play tennis?" recalled.

© 2022 AFP