The Uzbek Tennis Federation has confirmed that Kamilla Rakhimova is now playing under the country’s flag after switching nationalities.
Rakhimova, who has been ranked as high as 60th in the world, had been playing for Russia up until this month. The 24-year-old made her Tour debut back in 2019 and has made steady progress since then, winning one WTA 125 title last year in Mexico and two WTA titles in doubles. She has reached the third round in three out of the four Grand Slam tournaments, and earlier this season she stunned Jasmine Paolini at Wimbledon.
There has yet to be any public comment from Rakhimova about her decision to start playing for Uzbekistan. Her mother, Rufina Rakhimova, used to play tennis for the Uzbek SSR and her brother, Timur, was born in Tashkent.
“The arrival of Kamila Rakhimova to the Uzbekistan national team is an event of historic significance,” the Secretary General of the Uzbekistan Tennis Federation, Sador Kamilov, said in a statement.
“She has already proven herself to be a strong, competitive tennis player capable of playing on equal terms with the world’s top players. We are delighted to welcome Kamila to our team and are confident that she will achieve great victories, go far, and set new records under the Uzbekistan flag.”
Rakhimova is currently playing at a WTA 125 event in Angers, France and won her opening match on Monday by beating Alina Korneeva 6-1, 6-1. She is one of only two players in the top 200 representing Uzbekistan.
“This isn’t betrayal, but a desire to play. She remains Russian, but is simply changing her sporting citizenship. These moves are happening because of the upcoming Olympics,” Russian tennis chief Shamil Tarpischev claims.
“She (Rakhimova) wouldn’t have made our national team. She might make it for Uzbekistan. But it’s not a given that she’ll make it. To qualify for the Olympics, you have to be in the top 60 or top 70.”
Russian players switching nationalities isn’t a rare occurrence and there have been more frequent cases of this happening since the war in Ukraine. Players from the country are only allowed to compete on the Tour under a neutral status. Russia is also banned from hosting Tour events and participating in team events such as the Davis Cup.
Earlier this year, Daria Kasatkina switched her allegiance to Australia after criticizing Russia’s anti-LGBT laws and its war in Ukraine. Other cases include Maria Timofeeva switching to Uzbekistan, Elina Avanesyan moving to Armenia and Alexander Shevchenko representing Kazakhstan.
