Russian-born Natela Dzalamidze changed her nationality even before the Wimbledon suspension of Russian and Belarusian professionals. She now plays for Georgia. A decision that defends them against criticism.
Formerly a Russian, now a Georgian: Natela Dzalamidze
Natela Dzalamidze arrived at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club facility a little earlier than usual. The 29-year-old doubles specialist would like to take the time to talk to DW before her next two training sessions in the afternoon and evening at the training facility in Aorangi Park in Wimbledon. In the days leading up to the start of the world's most prestigious tennis tournament, the attention focused on her has become unusually high for the number 45 in the world rankings.
Because Dzalamidze no longer starts in international tennis tournaments for Russia, her mother's country of birth, but for Georgia, her father's home country. In doing so, she avoids the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players from this year's Wimbledon tournament. In London she will serve alongside her doubles partner, Serbian Alexsandra Krunic. “I made the decision because I want to concentrate on my career and have the chance to take part in the Olympic Games,” Dzalamidze explained her change of country at short notice a few days ago in the English newspaper “The Times”.
< p>The athlete from St. Petersburg had started the process of changing nations after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and before the decision of the tournament organization in Wimbledon to exclude her. She has had a Georgian passport in addition to the Russian one for six years and – as she emphasizes in the interview – she has followed all the rules. The WTA confirmed the move on June 6 – a week before the Wimbledon registration deadline. It already appears on the list of participants under its new country code. The player's decision and the point in time of the change in a time window that is very sensitive for all sides in terms of sport politics nevertheless polarizes.
Tangled situation in tennis
Russian and Belarusian athletes are currently banned from most sporting events. However, those responsible for the professional tours for men and women in tennis, the ATP and WTA tours, see their players less as representatives of the governments of their countries and more as independent entrepreneurs. They therefore quickly decided that the athletes concerned could take part in the events under a neutral flag.
However, the four Grand Slam tournaments are not part of the ATP and WTA tour. The organizers of Wimbledon acted very closely in coordination with the British government when it came to the exclusion, as was heard from England. To prevent further precedents, the ATP and WTA decided that no world ranking points would be awarded at the most prestigious tournament of the year. Since then things have been boiling behind the scenes and every decision, such as this change of nations, is viewed with suspicion.
“Didn't trick anyone”
“I didn't trick Wimbledon or my fellow players and I followed the rules,” Natela Dzalamidze defended in an interview with DW. In the emails after Wimbledon's decision, all players would have received information about the deadlines and registration processes. “One line even said that players who want to change their nation have to do it before June 3,” reports Dzalamidze. She therefore expected several changes. But the doubles player remained an isolated case in world tennis.
“I was ashamed to have a Russian passport,” says Natela Dzalamidze
“Of course I expected this kind of attention when I decided to take this step in March. I have the process before the French Open because I wanted to play preparatory tournaments for Wimbledon when I was Georgian,” she says. However, for health reasons, nothing came of it. “I knew if I showed up first at Wimbledon it would make waves.”
“General prejudices are unfair”
Dzalamidze's father's family fled the now autonomous Republic of Abkhazia in 1992 [officially belongs to Georgia, ed. Red], where war was raging at the time. She herself was born a year later. She didn't experience the war personally, but says about the situation in Ukraine: “It hurts a lot to see what's happening in Ukraine. I'm speechless and can't imagine what it's like when rockets are flying around and your life is being threatened.”
For an athlete of Russian descent, these are strong words, although she avoids the word war. In Russia you can be prosecuted for it. “I understand the position of the Ukrainians and I also received a lot of aggressive messages at the beginning and try not to spark discussions. But we have no influence on this decision as athletes,” she explains gets very emotional afterwards on a personal level.
“I don't want to make any excuses for what's happening in Ukraine, but for us athletes it's very unfair to experience the general prejudices. At first I was ashamed to have a Russian passport,” says Dzalamidze. After a while I questioned myself: “I'm a good person, why do I get this feeling? I've worked hard as an athlete for many years to achieve my goals. And because of a decision to start something terrible, I've lost my life and forgot my career?”
Hate mail from Georgia
Most of the hate mail she has received on social media since announcing her change of nationality has come from Georgia. “Most thought I would just take advantage of the Wimbledon situation and then switch back to the Russian FA afterwards,” but Dzalamidze says that's definitely not the case.
“My first name is Russian, but my last name isn't. I'm half-Russian,” she says. “In Russia, everyone understands that I'm not a complete Russian when they see my name, which comes from Georgia.”
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
The “sacred lawn” on Church Road
Wimbledon is the oldest and most important tennis tournament in the world. The premiere took place in 1877. The reason: The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club wants to raise money with the tournament in order to be able to buy a new lawn roller that costs 10 pounds. In 1922 they moved to Church Road, where the tournament still has its home today. The game will be played on two main and 16 secondary courts.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Royal Box
When moving to the new stadium in 1922, the English royals were also remembered by setting up a separate box for the royal family in the stands of Center Court, the so-called “Royal box”. England's King George V is the first royal guest at the Wimbledon Championships in 1907. In recent years, Duchess Catherine and Prince William have regularly attended the tournament.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
award ceremony by the Duke
Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, will also conduct the awards ceremonies from 2022. Edward, Duke of Kent had this honorable task for 52 years – until 2001 his wife, the Duchess, was at his side. In 2021 he resigned as club president at Wimbledon. Edward is a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen has served in his role before, most recently in 1962.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
All in white
If you want to be on the pitch at Wimbledon, 90 percent of your clothes have to be white. This has been the case since the beginning of the tournament and in the 1990s it was also the case for “bird of paradise” André Agassi, who normally appears on the pitch in neon colours. He makes an exception for Wimbledon – the only thing he doesn't want to do without is his cycling shorts under his tennis shorts.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Hard school
Before the ball boys and girls are allowed to march in rank and file onto the Wimbledon courts, they have to go through a strict selection process. The 14 to 18-year-olds drill for five months, learning how to roll balls perfectly and hand towels correctly. Out of 1000 applicants only 250 make it onto the sacred turf each year.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Handmade
Who plays when and in which round on which court against whom? In a tournament the size of Wimbledon, where not only singles but also doubles and mixed competitions are played, it's not that easy to keep track of things. On Church Road, however, nothing is left to chance or the computer, and the scoreboard is always kept up to date by hand.
Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Enjoy your meal!
The most popular snacks at the Wimbledon Visitors strawberries with cream. Countless portions of “strawberries and cream” are sold over the counters of the stalls every day. The “Strawberry Team” at Wimbledon consists of 40 people. Allegedly, around 28,000 kilograms of the red fruit and around 7,000 liters of whipped cream are now consumed per tournament.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Successful Brothers
Initially, the tournament was firmly in British hands – foreign players were not admitted until 1910. William Renshaw (right) wins six times in a row between 1881 and 1886, twice against his twin brother Ernest (from left). William Renshaw wins a total of seven singles titles at Wimbledon, remaining the record winner until Roger Federer celebrates his eighth singles title in 2017.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Record winner
In addition to William Renshaw, the American Pete Sampras (2nd from left) is also allowed to raise the winner's trophy seven times. Federer (2nd from right), who is extremely popular with the Wimbledon spectators, has one more win, even winning five times in a row between 2003 and 2007. Björn Borg (left) did the same thing in the 1970s.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Icon from Sweden
The long-haired Swede was a real pop star back then and was especially admired by the female fans. Borg plays unorthodox and revolutionizes the game of tennis: For example, he introduces the two-handed backhand. On Church Road he won all titles between 1976 and 1980 and was in the final again in 1981, which he lost to John McEnroe.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Australian Dominance
Before Borg took control of Wimbledon, the men's tournament was firmly in Australian hands for decades. In the 26 editions between 1946 and 1971 only five times no Australian made it to the final. Ten times the final is even purely Australian during this time. The Open era begins in 1968, and professionals can now play too. First winner: Rod Laver from Australia (photo).
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Hit into the heart
Boris Becker has one Wimbledon win less than Laver – namely three – to his credit. The red-haired German surprisingly won in 1985 at the age of 17 and took the hearts of London viewers by storm. His trademark: the Becker pike. Becker calls Center Court his living room. However, overall he loses more Wimbledon finals (4) than he wins (3).
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
No duels between friends
The most bitter final defeat is probably that of 1991 against Michael Stich. The two play together in a Davis Cup team, but they are not friends – on the contrary. Stich, always standing in Becker's shadow, goes through his game ice-cold and wins in three sets. Becker lets his frustration run wild: “I'm playing crap,” he yells across the court. “I don't like it anymore.”
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Finally another Brit
Andy Murray makes the spectators at Wimbledon particularly happy when he wins the tournament in 2013. Finally, the vast majority of tennis fans from the island will have thought at the time. 77 years after the Englishman Fred Perry, the Scot Murray is again a Brit who receives the golden winner's trophy and kisses it.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
German final
For the German players, the 1930s are the most successful time at Wimbledon. Gottfried von Cramm reached the final three times between 1935 and 1937. In 1931, Cilly Aussem (l.) won a German final against Hilde Krahwinkel-Sperling. This is followed by a dry spell of a similar length to that of the British. The next German success came 57 years later.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
The era of the Countess
Then, however, the successes come straight in a row: Steffi Graf celebrates her seven Wimbledon victories between 1988 and 1996 (photo) and is therefore the dominant figure of the tournament in this phase. She still loses her first final in 1987. In 1999 she reached the final for the last time, but lost out to the American Lindsay Davenport.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
Incredulous successor
It is only 22 years after Steffi Graf that a German, Angelique Kerber, wins the tournament on Church Road again and can hardly match her 6: 3, 6: 3 win over Serena Williams, who only returned from maternity leave a few months earlier grasp. It is the third attempt to succeed Graf: in 2013 Sabine Lisicki lost to Marion Bartoli, in 2016 Kerber had to admit defeat to Serena Williams.
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Wimbledon – best tennis, fine style
The Queen of Wimbledon
Williams has seven individual wins at Wimbledon. The most successful player of all time is Steffi Graf's constant rival Martina Navratilova. Born in the Czech Republic, she wins the tournament nine times. Between 1982 and 1990 she is always in the final. Her six wins in a row between 1982 and 1987 are also a record.