"I hope it's temporary" says Medvedev on not playing under Russian flag

Daniil Medvedev is a proud Russian and he takes great pride in playing for his nation and hopes the ban on his country in tennis will be temporary.

World no 1 Daniil Medvedev is hoping to once again don his nation’s flag as soon as possible. This comes after world sporting bodies including the International Tennis Federation banned the Russian flag due to the nation’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

While Russian athletes have not been barred from competing in tennis, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have decided to make Russian and Belarusian athletes compete under a neutral banner. Medvedev is hoping that the suspension of the Russian flag will just be a temporary measure:

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“Our task is to develop tennis in the countries where each of us comes from and all over the world.  For that, you have to play tennis every week at every tournament. At the moment, the only way to continue is to play without a flag, and I will follow this rule. But I hope that this measure will be temporary. I am waiting for the moment when we will be able to carry the flag again next to our names, of the Russian athletes.”

Notable men’s tennis stars who will now have to compete under neutral banners include Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Aslan Karatsev. Women’s stars who have been affected include Aryna Sabalenka, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Victoria Azarenka, Veronika Kudermetova and Daria Kasatkina.