Tennis
The titled tennis player abandoned Russia. Did you remember your roots at 24?
The winner of the WTA tournaments unexpectedly remembered her historical roots.
Tennis player Kamilla Rakhimova was born in Russia and for some time was considered the hope of our sport.
Now, an accomplished athlete with the status of a champion of WTA tournaments has switched to a foreign flag. Camilla will represent a country that is actively luring Russian athletes.
Formation in Russia
Rakhimova was born in August 2021 into a sports family. Father Stanislav was involved in swimming, triathlon and shooting. Rufina’s mother achieved serious success in tennis. She was one of the strongest young tennis players in the Uzbek SSR. Older brother Timur, born in Tashkent, was also fond of tennis.
Camilla was born in Yekaterinburg. Her development as an athlete also took place in Russia. At first she studied under the guidance of her mother, and then moved on to Yulia Pilchikova.
After winning the European Championship among tennis players under 16, Rakhimova received a contract from the Russian Tennis Federation, which allowed her to independently pay for flights to foreign tournaments. In 2017, the talented athlete reached the semifinals of the US Junior Open in doubles.
It is in doubles that Camilla has achieved the greatest success at the moment. She has three titles at WTA doubles tournaments. In singles, Rakhimova’s biggest achievement is associated with the WTA 125 tournament in Guadalajara in 2024. Thanks to the title, the Russian woman rose to her highest position, 60th in the WTA rankings. In pairs, she reached 51st place, and is now in 55th position.
“There are bright victories ahead under the flag of Uzbekistan”
Rakhimov cannot be called a star of the first magnitude, but Camilla has been enjoying the support of Russian tennis fans for several years and is well known to them. At the same time, back in 2023, she did not categorically deny that she could switch to the flag of another country.
“I didn’t think about changing my citizenship, but time will tell,” Business Online quotes Rakhimova as saying.
At the end of November, the Tennis Federation of Uzbekistan (FTU) unexpectedly announced the athlete’s transfer. The press service called Rakhimova’s change of citizenship “particularly symbolic” because of her family roots.
— The appearance of Kamilla Rakhimova in the national team of Uzbekistan is an event of historical proportions. She has already proven herself to be a strong, competitive tennis player, capable of playing on an equal footing with the world’s top players. We are pleased to welcome Kamilla to our team and are confident that there are bright victories, a long journey and new records ahead under the flag of Uzbekistan,” the official website of the FTU quotes Secretary General Sardor Kamilov as saying.
Camilla was not the first athlete to be lured away by sports officials in Uzbekistan recently. Previously, wrestler Razambek Zhamalov, who became an Olympic champion at the Paris Olympics, began competing for this country. Figure skaters Dmitry Chigirev and Ekaterina Geinisch followed a similar path, and the couple broke up. Among the latest examples are tennis players. In October it became known that Maria Timofeeva would represent Uzbekistan at international tournaments.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.