"I think that it's good to play for them": Rybakina believes Wimbledon Russian and Belarusian U-turn is right

Elena Rybakina is of the opinion that Russian and Belarusian players should play at Wimbledon and welcomes the decision of the event to let them play.

Rybakina is Russian-born but switched allegiance to Kazakhstan as a teenager in order to get better funding and opportunities.

It worked out well for her as she was able to develop into a very good tennis player with a lot of backing from the country, something she often highlights when talking about her tennis career.

Due to that, Rybakina was able to win Wimbledon last year despite being ethnically Russian and it's still the biggest trophy of her career.

Speaking about this year's Wimbledon she admitted that she feels it's right to let the players play:

"I think it's the right thing that they are going to play since all tour they have been playing, and they have already restriction. It's no flag, no anything. I think that it's good to play for them, and everybody as a player wants to play in the biggest tournaments."

She added:

"I mean, when I heard this, this is not something you want to hear because we are playing sport. Everybody wants to compete. They were not choosing where they born."

Asked about the war, she said:

"I just want the war to end as soon as possible. Peace, yeah."