Russian Rublev would give up passport to free up his tennis

Russian Andrey Rublev would not rule out giving up his passport and changing nationalities if it would allow him to pursue his ATP career all-out.

The player among those banned from Wimbledon due to Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, told a Russian YouTube interviewer that renouncing his troublesome nationality was an option he could pursue.

Rublev apparently fears implementation of a total ban on Russian players and wants to be prepared for that eventuality.

“Yes, to change the passport,” the world No. 8 said. “That would be one of the  solutions.” 

Rublev sat out the grass season – save a first-round loss last month in Halle – and is back on clay this week in Hamburg.

He revealed that he offered a proposal to Wimbledon by which a few Russian players would play doubles or mixed alongside Ukrainian counterparts – a plan rejected out of hand by the All England Club which had banned all Russian and Belarus players from the Championships.

“Teams would not have shown up at the awards ceremony,” he explained. “Use the tennis platform to show how important it is to have world peace…

“… that this is the most important thing now.”

He added: “I’m a tennis player. Thanks to this platform I can deliver the right message. But the answer was always the same:

‘The Russian government would use the Russian result against everyone, 

“No matter the idea, Wimbledon’s answer was always the same.”