Does Elena Rybakina Have Dual Citizenship?

On June 17, 1999, tennis player Elena Andreyevna Rybakina was born in Russia. She won the 2022 Wimbledon and became the first Kazakh player to win a major. According to the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), she is the first player from Kazakhstan to be ranked in the top 10. She is ranked No. 6 in singles as of late 2024. Besides winning the Wimbledon in 2022, Rybakina also won two WTA 1000 titles, at the Italian Open and the Indian Wells Open in 2023. She also made the final at the Australian Open 2023.

Elena Rybakina started her 2024 season by winning three WTA 500 titles, including the 2024 Brisbane International, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final, the 2024 Abu Dhabi Open, defeating Daria Kasatkina, and the 2024 Stuttgart Open, defeating Marta Kostyuk in the final. She reached the semi-final of the tournament, losing to Sabalenka at the 2024 Madrid Open. She finished finalist at the 2024 Miami Open and the 2024 Qatar TotalEnergies Open, where she lost to Danielle Collins and Swiatek, respectively.

Does Elena Rybakina Hold Dual Citizenship?

Elena Rybakina is a Russian-born Kazakhstani citizen. In June 2018, Rybakina acquired Kazakhstani citizenship and switched federations from Russia to Kazakhstan, having just turned 19 years old at the time, though she was born in Russia. Elena Rybakina's nationality has always been a contentious issue, whether it is her nationality being changed or her eligibility to compete at Wimbledon in 2022 given the Russia-Ukraine war. She did, however, compete as a Kazakh at Wimbledon.

In 2023, The BNP Paribas Open social media account praised Elena Rybakina for being the first Kazakh woman to reach the semifinals, which divided Twitter users. Many brought up her Russian heritage, but some supporters defended her against trolls by saying that she now represents Kazakhstan, and that should be the end of the debate.

Elena Rybakina has played more matches on the WTA Tour while representing Kazakhstan than Russia. It would be irrational to bring up her Russian heritage now, especially since her fellow countrymen, Alexander Bublik, Yulia Putintseva, and Mikhail Kukushkin, are never mentioned in the same breath.

Why Did Elena Rybakina Change Her Nationality?

Elena Rybakina made the decision to represent Kazakhstan because the tennis association there offered to financially support her during difficult times for her and her family.

Elena Rybakina stated this in an interview with WTA Insider: "I finished school, and I had to decide if I should go to college. My dad wanted me to go to college because he was worried. He saw the results, but it was difficult for us financially. It's not easy. Like every parent, he was worried if I get injured. I had offers from universities in America, but I didn't even think about it because I wanted to keep playing. My dad really wanted me to go. 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,"

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What is the Background of Elena Rybakina?

Elena Rybakina began participating in sports with her older sister at a young age, initially concentrating on ice skating and gymnastics. When her parents were informed that, she was too tall to become a professional in either of those sports, she decided to focus on tennis. Rybakina started playing tennis when she was six years old.

Rybakina relocated to the Spartak Tennis Club from the Dynamo Sports Club, where she had a number of accomplished coaches. She received training from Andrey Chesnokov, a former top-10 player, and Evgenia Kulikovskaya, a former top-100 player. Irina Kiseleva, who won the modern pentathlon gold medal at the World Championships, was one of her fitness instructors.

Elena Rybakina did not begin receiving one-on-one training until she was a junior. Instead, she practiced in groups of eight until the age of 15, then four until the age of 18. Additionally, she only exercised for three hours a day and spent two hours playing tennis. She had to balance tennis with schoolwork because she went to a regular high school without an athletics program, which limited her time for tennis.

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