ELENA’S ROYAL RUSSIAN MESS
ELENA RYBAKINA caused the All England Club and the Royal Family a PR disaster by lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish on Centre Court.
The 23-year-old represents
Kazakhstan after acquiring citizenship and switching from the
Russian
Federation in 2018.
But her 3-6 6-2 6-2 victory over Ons Jabeur in Wimbledon’s women’s final meant a
Moscow-born player won a tournament at which Russian and Belarusian athletes had been banned.
Rybakina (below) said: “I’ve been playing for Kazakhstan a long time, I represented them at the biggest tournaments, the Olympics, which was a dream come true. I don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s always news, but I can’t do anything about it.
“I can only say that I’m representing Kazakhstan.
“I didn’t choose where
I was born.”