Russian tennis player Varvara Gracheva is reportedly soon to complete the process of receiving French citizenship, according to L’Equipe.
Given the current unfavorable circumstances that Russian representatives face in sports, Gracheva will avoid many obstacles if she starts playing for France. According to reports, she will give up her Russian citizenship and obtain a French one. She started the process of French naturalization a few weeks ago and it should be complete soon.
Gracheva is a 22-year-old born in Moscow, who has been training at the Elite Tennis Center in Cannes since 2016. Her current WTA singles ranking is No.54. Having started the year just inside the Top 100, Gracheva has experienced a steep rise by virtue of her recent run to the ATX Open final and the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open — in Texas she defeated former US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals before falling to Marta Kostyuk in the title match, while in Indian Wells she upset world No.8 Daria Kasatkina (for the second time this season!) before falling to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.
Playing the ongoing Miami Open as a qualifier, Gracheva stunned fourth seed Ons Jabeur for her second Top 10 win in two weeks and first in the Top 5, and is now awaiting a fourth-round meeting with Petra Kvitova. (photo: Jimmie48)
