Anna Blinkova, the latest Russian to change nationality
Anna Blinkova is now French. The tennis player born in Moscow has acquired a new nationality and now appears representing France in the WTA ranking. A change of flag that comes nearly a decade after her arrival in the country and has an immediate consequence on the landscape of French women's tennis.
Currently ranked number 94 in the world, Blinkova becomes the second French player in the top 100, only behind Diane Parry. The player, who arrived in France almost ten years ago, is also fluent in French, so her adaptation to the country has long been a reality. The change also means the incorporation of a player with experience at the highest level into the French ranks.
French tennis adds a new top 100
Blinkova once held the 34th position in the WTA ranking, the best ranking of her career, and has regularly competed in the main tournaments of the circuit over the last few years. Her naturalization now alters her sporting identity within the global rankings and broadens French representation among the top hundred players in the world. For France, it means having an experienced tennis player in an area of the ranking where it currently had little prominence.
Of Russian origin, like many others who have also changed their flag recently, Blinkova has been living in France for nearly a decade, where she has developed a significant part of her professional career. Now that link also becomes a new sporting identity. With her official entry under the tricolor flag, the 28-year-old faces this new phase as a French tennis player while continuing her return to higher positions in the ranking. For now, her name is back among the 100 best in the world, also debuting a new passport.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Anna Blinkova, la última rusa en cambiar de nacionalidad