Article by David Marinescu – Published on Thursday, 04 December 2025, 13:27 / Updated on Thursday, 04 December 2025 13:29
Anastasia Potapova (24 years old, #51 WTA), born in Russia, announced that from 2026 she will represent Austria.
Anastasia Potapova is the latest Russian player in the WTA to change her citizenship amid the challenges of the war between Russia and Ukraine. The 24-year-old player announced on Instagram that she will start representing Austria in 2026.
“I am pleased to inform you that my application for citizenship has been accepted by the Austrian government. Austria is a place I love, it's incredibly welcoming and a place where I feel at home. I love being in Vienna and can't wait to make my second home there.“, the world number 51 player wrote. “
With the start of the 2026 season, the flag next to her name will officially be the flag of Austria.
Potapova becomes the fourth Russian WTA player to change nationality in 2025, following Daria Kasatkina, who now competes for Australia, and Maria Timofeeva and Kamilla Rakhimova, who became citizens of Uzbekistan.
Anastasia has 3 WTA titles in her record, all in tournaments of 250 points, in Istanbul 2022, Linz 2023 and Transylvania Open 2025. In February, Potapova defeated Lucia Bronzetti in the last act of the competition in the all-rounder from Cluj, score 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
In fact, the set lost to Lucia Bronzetti was the only one lost by the Russian in the tournament in Cluj-Napoca, after passing Julia Grabher, Viktorija Golubic, Ella Seidel and Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the minimum set.
Recently, the player born in Saratov made public the relationship with the Dutch tennis player Tallon Griekspoor. Potapova was married for less than a year to Russian tennis player Alexander Shevchenko from December 2023 to September 2024.
