Russian tennis chief Shamil Tarpischev was adamant that starlet Mirra Andreeva would not be joining the number of wantaways changing their nationality.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, tennis players from the nation have been competing as neutral athletes on both the ATP and WTA Tours, and have been banned from both the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.
While Russian tennis players remain prominent figures in both the men’s and women’s games, a growing number of athletes have changed their sporting nationality since the conflict began.
Since February 2022, a total of nine Russian players have switched their sporting nationality away from the country, with Anastasia Potapova the latest to do so.
In the past, before the conflict, players such as Elena Rybakina, Alexander Bublik, and Yulia Putintseva all switched to representing Kazakhstan for financial reasons.
But, while Russian players changing their nationality is not unprecedented, the volume of players changing nationality since 2022 is noticeable.
Potapova was the fourth player to change nationality this year, following Kamila Rakhimova and Maria Timofeeva – who now represent Uzbekistan – and Daria Kasatkina, who now represents Australia.
In the women’s game, the current Russian No. 1 is 18-year-old Andreeva, with the teen star ranked ninth in the WTA Rankings after winning two WTA 1000 titles in 2025.
Andreeva is considered one of the hottest prospects in the women’s game and won a doubles Olympic silver alongside fellow Russian rising star Diana Shnaider at the Paris 2024 Olympics, competing as neutral athletes.
Asked by Russian sports website Championat whether there was any concern that Andreeva could change nationality, Tarpischev issued a sharp response.
He replied: “No. Neither she [Andreeva] nor Shnaider.
“Imagine, I have 1,070 tennis players playing abroad. They’re like army men! And we keep 350 on our national teams. The rest are on their own.”
Tarpischev was also asked to comment on Potapova’s change of sporting nationality.
Potapova’s announcement came just days after world No. 112 Rakhimova’s move to representing Uzbekistan was confirmed by the Uzbek Tennis Federation.
The world No. 51 revealed earlier this week that she would be representing Austria from the start of 2026, in a post that drew strong similarities to Kasatkina’s message about representing Australia from March.
While the world No. 51 was only the seventh-highest-ranked Russian player on the WTA, she is now the Austrian No. 1, and her new nation’s highest-ranked player since July 2014.
And, Tarpischev revealed his belief that the chance for Potapova to potentially play in the Billie Jean King Cup and Olympic Games was a likely motivating factor for her.
“I can’t say anything about Potapova. For us, if this isn’t a complete surprise, then it’s a surprise that she did it,” said Tarpischev.
“She lived in Austria for two years. I can only assume she wants to participate in the Olympics. She doesn’t make our team based on the rankings. She kept complaining about visa problems. It disrupts our rhythm. Purely mundane things.
“Athletes don’t change their home countries, but their sporting citizenship. Because everyone wants to play. Why do they leave at this time? Because other countries are recruiting for the Olympics and, as a rule, they take our reserves. They pay a lot of money.
“It’s a combination of a person’s thinking about how to play better and how to best achieve results. With this attitude, they change their sporting citizenship, but not their home country.”
