Rising Russian tennis star Vavara Gracheva is ready to represent France – and could do in time for French Open in May – with the defection process accelerating following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
- Russian tennis is preparing to lose one its fastest-rising stars Vavara Gracheva
- The 22-year-old wants represent France in time for the French Open this May
- It is believed Russia invasion of Ukraine sped up Gracheva’s defection process
Russian tennis has suffered relatively few inconveniences since the invasion of Ukraine, but now it is set to lose one of its fastest-rising players with its first defection to another country.
Varvara Gracheva, the 22 year-old from Moscow who has already moved from 100 into the top 50 this year, is set to take French citizenship and represent France, having based herself on the cote d’Azur since the age of 16.
After her narrow defeat by Petra Kvitova at the Miami Open she confirmed to Sportsmail that everything was in place to make the move, and it is possible that she might become her adopted country’s No 2 player by Roland Garros in late May.
Gracheva, choosing her words carefully and hesitant to say too much, stated that this has been on her agenda since prior to the invasion. However the process appears to have been accelerated in recent months with her taking the French citizenship exam in November and submitting her documentation at the start of March.
It happens against the backdrop of Wimbledon finalising its agreement with the tours to re-admit Russian and Belarussian players this summer, and an announcement could come as soon as next week.
Russian tennis is set to lose one of its stars Vavara Gracheva – who wants to represent France
For the last six years, the 22-year-old player has trained at the Elite Tennis Center in Cannes
‘When I started the process it was not even close to the situation (the war), nobody knew what was going to happen,’ said Gracheva.
‘It’s something that we never really aim for. So why not? Why not take the opportunity? But the decision doesn’t depend on me, there are other people who will decide my future. I will say more if I get my papers. We put all the paperwork in this month.
‘I’m doing okay, and my main job is to play tennis. I will be glad to represent maybe both.’
Gracheva has been among the fasters movers on the WTA Tour this year, but has largely gone under the radar. Her only brush with widespread publicity was when losing the recent final in Austin, Texas to Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who refused to shake hands afterwards.
For the past six years she has trained at the Elite Tennis Centre in Cannes, following the same path as current compatriot and men’s world number five Daniil Medvedev, who has also based himself there since a teenager.
Medvedev has not given any indication that he plans to follow her. However, it is known within tennis that there are other Russian players – numerous are based in France and Spain – who have investigated switching countries.
The process may have been slowed by the fact that so far there have not been the issues with getting visas that might have been anticipated. Even the UK government has been reluctant to stop issuing visas, which is why players from all countries are set to play at Wimbledon, providing they sign an agreement not to make any gestures of support about the invasion.
In Miami former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu was on Tuesday having the damage to her ankle assessed after she fell on the baseline, and screamed out in shock and agony.
The Canadian, who beat Emma Raducanu in the first round, appeared to have been rediscovering her old form but was forced to leave the court in a wheelchair in the second set of her fourth round, with her distraught mother Maria looking on in the stands. ‘I’ve never felt this kind of pain before,’ the player could be heard yelling.
Manchester’s AO Arena will host the four-nation Davis Cup Finals qualifying group, featuring Great Britain, from September 12-17. Two countries to will go through to November’s World Finals, with the draw being made on Thursday.
