McEnroe questions Rybakina nationality after Wimbledon win: "She is Russian right? It is sort of strange"
WTA
Elena Rybakina sealed this year's Ladies Singles title at Wimbledon but being born in Russia and now representing Kazakhstan, she has had to swat away questions about her defection throughout the championships.
But the Moscow-born star's triumph was not without controversy as tennis great John McEnroe called her participation into question following the All England Club's ban on Russian and Belarusian players because of Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine.
He said:
"She is obviously a huge hitter and hits the ball great. I just think it's weird because of this whole thing. I don't mean to get into politics here but she is Russian, right? It is sort of strange because of this whole ordeal of not allowing the Russians to play."
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