There have been seventeen Russian-born tennis players who have changed their nationality since 2022. However, if reports are to be believed, the next name in line might be the biggest of them all. Former World No.9 Andrey Chesnokov had a strong opinion on the matter, hinting that World No. 5, Mirra Andreeva, might be up for a nationality change as well.
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“I think Andreeva will leave (change her citizenship), it’s just a matter of time. She lives and trains in France, so she’ll definitely leave, but our other leaders at the top… The trend now is that they all leave,” said Chesnokov during an interview with RBC Sport. “You see, everyone chooses what’s most comfortable for them.”
Chesnokov is not far off the mark in pointing out where Andreeva lives, as she is officially resides in Cannes. The Russian had her initial training phase at the Elite Tennis Center in Cannes, after which she transitioned to the All In Academy in the French Riviera. Andreeva relocated in 2022, and her training at the French facilities played a major role in shaping her into the player she is today.
Andreeva is not the only Russian player to have trained at the Cannes-based facilities. Both Varvara Gracheva and Anna Blinkova had long training stints at the establishment in Cannes. Both of them changed their nationalities to French, with Blinkova completing her naturalization process this year and making her debut as a French player at the Sao Paulo Open. Gracheva became a French citizen in 2023 and even represented France at the Billie Jean King Cup and the Olympics.
There have been other instances of Russian players switching to a French nationality while training at other facilities in France. Ksenia Efremova switched to French nationality as well, with her training at the Mouratoglou Academy in Biot, in the South of France.
Even though Chesnokov was quite adamant in his verdict about a potential nationality switch from Andreeva, the World No.5 did have an opposite view on the matter when the question was posed to her at the Australian Open this year.
“I haven’t even thought about it, I’ve heard and seen it lately, especially about Kasatkina and how she changed her citizenship,” said Andreeva at the Australian Open. “Many players have switched, but I’m going to keep playing as I am, I haven’t had any offers or anything like that, so for now, I’ll continue as is.”
Should it come to pass, Andreeva would become the fifth Russian player to change their nationality in 2026.
Four Russian-Born Players Have Switched Their Nationality in 2026
Training bases are often the main factor behind players’ decisions to switch nationalities. The most recent Russian-born player to switch her nationality was Anna Blinkova, who became the second-ranked French player after her switch. She had a decent debut as a French player, reaching the quarterfinals in Sau Paolo.
The same also applied to the likes of Oksana Selekhmeteva and Alisa Oktiabreva. While Selekhmeteva moved to Barcelona in her early teens for training, Oktiabreva moved to the Czech Republic at age 2 and received her initial training at the TK Sparta Prague Club. Both had their nationality switches approved this year, making their debuts as Spanish and Czech players, respectively.
For Selekhmeteva, her first event as a Spanish player was at the French Open, where she lost to Marta Kostyuk in the first round. On the other hand, Oktiabreva won the junior title at Roland Garros, which was her last notable accomplishment as a Russian player. She made her debut as a Czech player via a wildcard at the Prague Open, losing to Oceane Dodin in the first round. However, since then, the 18-year-old has already won two ITF events under the Czech flag.
Family roots are also key in nationality switch, as seen in the case of Alina Charaeva, who switched her nationality to Armenian. Charaeva had Armenian roots, which helped her secure support from the Armenian Tennis Federation. She completed the formalities in July and made her debut as an Armenian player at the Iasi Open, where she won her first round match 6-0, 6-1 against Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva.