A prominent former Russian tennis player made a big claim about Mirra Andreeva changing her sporting nationality, but what has the 19-year-old star said about the topic?

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, tennis players from both Russia and Belarus (a Russian ally) have competed as neutral athletes on the ATP and WTA tours, rather than under the flag of their nation.

A growing group of Russian-born stars have changed their citizenship since the war began, with Alina Charaeva, Oksana Selekhmeteva, Alisa Oktiabreva and Anna Blinkova all switching allegiance this year.

Former world No 9 Andrei Chesnokov recently declared that Andreeva, who is Russia’s highest-ranked player on either tour, “will definitely leave” for another country.

“I think Andreeva will leave, it’s just a matter of time,” Chesnokov told Sport RBC.

“She lives and trains in France, so she will definitely leave, but our other leaders at the top… The trend now is that they all leave. You see, everyone chooses what’s most comfortable for them.”

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In 2025, Daria Kasatkina, Maria Timofeeva, Kamila Rakhimova, Anastasia Potapova and Polina Kudermetova all left Russia to represent other nations.

During the 2026 Australian Open in January, Andreeva was asked if she might join this cohort by changing her allegiance.

“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.

“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.

“It doesn’t bring any extra pressure for me; I’m just doing my thing on the court. I focus on how to improve and be a better tennis player.”

In December last year, Shamil Tarpischev — the president of the Russian Tennis Federation — was asked if he was concerned about the prospect of Andreeva changing nationality.

“No. Neither she (Andreeva) nor [Diana] Shnaider,” said Tarpischev.

“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.”

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