Shamil Tarpischev insists he is not worried at all about Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider possibly following the path of some other Russian-born players as the Russian Tennis Federation President is confident the two young stars will continue to play under the Russian flag.
In the last couple of days, Russia lost two WTA players. Firstly, world No. 112 Kamilla Rakhimova decided to start representing Uzbekistan. Then, on Thursday, three-time WTA champion Anastasia Potapova switched her allegiance to Austria. It was the third and fourth cases of it happening to Russian tennis this year - Daria Kasatkina started playing under the Australian flag in April, while Maria Timofeeva took the Uzbekistan passport.
Recent cases led to some wondering if Andreeva and Shnaider - the two most promising and talented Russian female tennis player - would do the same. Andreeva won two WTA 1000 titles this year and is currently ranked at No. 9 in the world, while 21st-ranked Shnaider already has five titles under her belt.
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Tarpischev asked if he fears about Andreeva and Shnaiderleaving Russia
"No. Neither she nor Diana. Imagine, I have 1,070 tennis players playing abroad. They're like army men! And we keep 350 on our national teams. The rest are on their own," Russian Tennis Federation President Tarpischev told Championat.
After the Potapova news dropped, Tarpischev was asked by the same publication to address it.
"I can't say anything about Potapova. For us, if this isn't a complete surprise, then it's a surprise that she did it. She lived in Austria for two years. I can only assume she wants to participate in the Olympics. She doesn't make our team based on the rankings. She kept complaining about visa problems. It disrupts our rhythm. Purely mundane things," Tarpischev told Championat.
Last weekend, the Northern Palmyra Trophies in St. Petersburg took place. Shnaider was one of the participants of the Russian exhibition.
