Over the past few years, some athletes have managed to disappoint Russian fans by abandoning their native country. Among them was tennis player Alexander Shevchenko, who chose to compete under the banner of Kazakhstan. Coincidence or not, but after the flag was changed, the ex-Russian’s luck turned away.

Moreover, not only did Alexander’s results deteriorate, he also lost his beautiful wife.

Shevchenko’s successes

Alexander Shevchenko, a native of Rostov-on-Don, moved to Austria at the age of nine. However, after changing his place of residence, the tennis player retained Russian sports citizenship. He was not among the tops; compared to Daniil Medvedev, Andrei Rublev or Karen Khachanov, the athlete’s results were modest, but he still achieved some success.

In 2023, Alexander reached the final of the tournament in Metz, and was in the top 50 in the ATP ranking at the end of the year. Given the age of the athlete, further progress could be expected. And on the personal front, everything was going well for Shevchenko: he married one of the main beauties of Russian tennis, Anastasia Potapova.

In December of the same year, the couple became husband and wife, combining a performance in front of the Russian public with a wedding.

Alexander Shevchenko / Photo: © Zhizhao Wu / Contributor/ Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“The best solution”

Rumors about a possible change of Shevchenko’s sports citizenship circulated in the fall of 2023; in January 2024, they were confirmed. The event for tennis is not entirely unprecedented: almost all the leaders of the Kazakhstan national team in both men’s and women’s tennis come from Russia. But Alexander did not limit himself to changing his sports citizenship, deciding to make claims to his native country.

— I really enjoy playing for Kazakhstan. I think it was the right decision because I see the kind of people around me – they give good advice and help me develop in my career. Playing for Kazakhstan is the best decision in my life, because I never received anything from Russia. Kazakhstan has helped me in many ways, and I am sincerely grateful for this,” Meta-ratings.kz quoted Shevchenko in October.

The praises towards Kazakhstan can be understood, but was it really impossible to do without negativity towards Russia? Let all this remain on the conscience of the athlete. As for the “right decision”, if you operate with dry facts, you can ask questions here. Alexander did not take any titles at the new stage of his career, and he simply did not achieve any significant successes. As a Russian, Shevchenko ended 2023 in 48th place in the ATP rankings, and as a Kazakh tennis player dropped to 78th position in 2024 and 95th in 2025. In addition, during the last season he completely flew out of the top 100.

No progress and no wife

On the personal front, Shevchenko is also not going smoothly. The marriage with Potapova did not last long. Moreover, the divorce happened when Alexander was already representing Kazakhstan.

Alexander Shevchenko and Anastasia Potapova / Photo: © Personal archive of Anastasia Potapova

It is unlikely that all of Shevchenko’s failures are associated solely with his abandonment of Russia, but the fact remains. Moreover, its decline is not a one-time event, but part of a pattern. None of the tennis representatives who exchanged Russian citizenship for foreign citizenship after 2022 managed to achieve anything truly significant on the court. Varvara Gracheva, Daria Kasatkina, Elina Avanesyan also dropped in the ranking. There are doubts that changing the flag from Russian to Austrian will also benefit Alexander’s ex-wife Anastasia Potapova.