Natela Dzalamidze was born in Moscow and played in the French Open under the neutral flag as a Russian athlete. But No. 44 in the doubles world, which held its training camp in Kyiv, has now changed to represent Georgia and will be able to play in SW19. A statement from the All England Club said: “The nationality of the players, defined as the flag with which they play in professional competitions, is an agreed-upon procedure governed by the Tours and the ITF.” Wimbledon will allow players to train at Center and Stadium No. 1 for the first time this week to avoid first-round injuries. Board member Tim Henman said the goal was to “play” on pitches that have proven slippery in the past. Serena Williams twisted her ankle in her first-round fight at Center Court last year and is back just this week. The 40-year-old American superstar will play a double at Rothesay International Eastbourne with Ons Jabeur before returning to her single as a wildcard at SW19. And Paula Badosa from Spain, the top sport in Eastbourne, said: “It’s great to have her back and I’m really surprised at how hungry she is for the game, so I think she’s very inspiring. She is very good at tennis. “But on the other hand, I do not want to play against her, so I hope the draw goes to other players because no one wants to play Serena on the grass. Let’s pray for that!” The new No. 3 in the world Jabeur yesterday won her third WTA title yesterday at bet1open in Berlin, after Belinda Bencic was forced to retire due to an ankle injury. Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina criticizes US Open decision to allow Russians and Belarusians to play under neutral flag in August – and silence by Russian and Belarusian players “It was not really understandable to us why we did not receive support from them,” he said. “I feel it created tension between us.” The All England Club chose to ban Russian and Belarusian players after the government told them that the only alternative was to receive signed statements from stars condemning the invasion of Ukraine.
