5 active Russian tennis players who changed their nationality ft. Elena Rybakina, Daria Kasatkina

Daria Kasatkina recently announced that she has attained full Australian residencey and would represent the country while competing in future tournaments. The 27-year-old was born in Russia and had represented the country until now.

Over the years, there have been sevveral instances of tennis players changing their nationalities and countries of representation, like Martina Navratilova and Ivan Lendl switching their respective allegiances from Czechoslovakia to the United States. Monica Seles used to represent Yugoslavia but she started representing the US after gaining the country's citizenship in 1994.

Over the past few years, there have been many instances of active tennis players from Russia who changed their nationalities and we will take a more detailed look at them.

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#1. Daria Kasatkina

Daria Kasatkina is the most recent Russian tennis player to have switched her nationality. The 27-year-old announced on social media that she attained Australian residency and would represent the nation in tournaments.

Kasatkina, who is openly queer, has had a bit of strrained relationship with Russia due to her sexuality.

"So many subjects are taboo in Russia. This notion of someone wanting to be gay or becoming [gay] is ridiculous," the 27-year-old said in 2022.

There were people from the tennis community who had heartfelt responses to Daria Kasatkina switching her nationality, including Rennae Stubbs and Daria Saville, another Russian player who became an Australian citizen.

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#2. Elena Rybakina

Elena Rybakina has been one of the best tennis players in the world over the past few years and has attained a lot of success while representing Kazakhstan. However, she used to represent Russia before switching her allegiances.

Born in Moscow, Rybakina represented Russia in juniors and reached two Grand Slam semifinals at the Australian Open and the French Open in 2017. The following year, she became a Kazakhstan citizen after the country's tennis federation helped her financially.

"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," Rybakina told the WTA in 2020.

Elena Rybakina has had quite a few achievements over the past three years, that include a Grand Slam and a couple of WTA 1000 titles. This year, the 25-year-old helped Kazakhstan to the semifinals of the United Cup and she will also represent the nation in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers in April.

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#3. Alexander Bublik

Alexander Bublik was born in Russia and represented the country when he turned professional in 2016. However, later that year, he switched his allegiance to Kazakhstan and has been representing the country ever since. In 2022, Bublik lauded the country's tennis federation for supporting him and said that he felt proud to represent them.

"Yes, I was born in Russia and have lived there for most of my life. I moved to Kazakhstan in 2016 and there is a big emotional connection there. What they did for me is incredible and how they helped me when I was in need. Of course, I do feel Russian with my whole family being from Russia. But being a player who represents Kazakhstan in the world arenas is a pleasure for me and I feel very proud," Bublik told Ubitennis.

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#4. Alexander Shevchenko

Alexander Shevchenko is another Russian-born tennis player who became a citizen of Kazakhstan. Shevchenko turned professional in 2018 and represented Russia till 2024. During this time, he reached the third round of two Masters 1000 events.

In 2024, Shevchenko confirmed that he would represent Kazakhstan in tennis after attaining the country's citizenship.

Since he started representing Kazakhstan, Shevchenko has competed in four Grand Slams, reaching the second round in two.

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#5. Yulia Putintseva

Moscow-born Yulia Putintseva turned professional in 2009 aged just 14 and represented Russia until 2012, when she switched to Kazakhstan. Since then, Putintseva has had some impressive performances, that include three Grand Slam quarterfinals.

All of the her three title wins have come while representing Kazakhstan and she also reached four WTA 1000 singles quarterfinals. Putintseva has won seven out of 15 matches so far this season, with her best performance being reaching the semifinals of the Adelaide International.

After her Miami Open exit, she will next compete at the Charleston Open.