Russian tennis champion renounces the country and changes citizenship

Russian tennis player Elina Avanesyan (WTA #58) has been granted Armenian citizenship. The 21-year-old native of Pyatigorsk is the winner of 5 ITF tournament titles.

"I am honored to announce that I have been granted Armenian citizenship and will proudly represent Armenia - starting with the Cincinnati tournament! It's been an incredible journey and I'm excited to give my best on the court, playing for my ancestral homeland," Avanesyan wrote on Instagram.

Avanesyan started playing tennis at the age of six. At the 2018 French Open Junior Championships, she reached the second round in singles and the 1/8 finals in doubles with Maria Timofeeva. At the 2019 French Open and 2020 French Open, she also reached the second round in singles.

In 2022, Avanesyan made her debut at adult Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the main draw at the US Open through qualification. In the first round, she lost to Serbian athlete Aleksandra Krunic.

In May 2023, she won the biggest tournament of her career - the ITF W100 series title in Wiesbaden (Germany).

At the 2023 French Open, Elina lost to American Kayla Day in the final of the qualifying round, but earned a spot in the main draw as a wildcard. In the first round, she defeated Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in three sets, and in the second round, she defeated Frenchwoman Leolia Jeanjean. In the third round, Avanesyan defeated Clara Touson of Denmark in three sets. In the fourth round, she lost in two sets to Czech Karolina Muchova.

At the 2023 U.S. Open, Elina defeated Alize Cornet in the first round, but lost to Jelena Ostapenko in the second round.

In mid-January 2022, at the Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, Avanesyan defeated China's Bai Zhuoxuan in the first round of singles and world No. 8 Maria Sakkari in the second round (6-4, 6-4), but lost in three sets to Ukrainian Marta Kostiuk in the third round.

In early June, Elina again reached the fourth round of the French Open singles tournament, where she lost in three sets to Italian Jasmine Paolini, who eventually reached the final of this tournament.

In July, she reached the final of the WTA 250 tournament in Iasi, where she lost to Russian Mirra Andreeva with a score of 7:5, 5:7, 0:4 (she was unable to continue the match due to injury). This was Avanesyan's last tournament under the Russian flag.

In recent years, Elina Avanesyan has been living and training in Spain.

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