Alisa Oktiabreva, the 2026 Roland Garros girls’ champion, has officially switched her tennis representation from Russia to the Czech Republic, where she has lived since the age of two.
Avec son jeu puissant, Alisa Oktiabreva n’a laissé aucune chance à Xinran Sun en finale ↘️#RolandGarros https://t.co/rFhNDpTiev
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2026
Oktiabreva was born in Moscow in 2008 but moved to Prague with her family when she was just a toddler. Since then, Prague has been her home and the place where she first picked up a tennis racquet. She has barely visited Russia, making the Czech Republic the country she truly identifies with.
“Honestly, I consider myself Czech. That’s actually why I struggle with Russian – I went to school in Prague, my friends are there, my coaches are Czech, everything in my life has been in Czech. Prague is home to me. When I say I’m going home, I mean Prague. Training there isn’t always easy because of the weather, but it will always be my home. In my entire life, I’ve only been to Russia once – for the Christmas Cup under-14 tournament,” Oktiabreva previously told Sports.ru.
Oktiabreva’s application for Czech citizenship was supported by her tennis club, which has a proud history of developing some of the country’s greatest players, including Hana Mandlikova, Petra Kvitova, Karolina Pliskova, Katerina Siniakova, and many others.
“She has been part of our club since childhood,” TK Sparta Prague director Miroslav Maly told Tenisovy Svet earlier this year. “Starting at the age of four in our tennis school, where she learned the game and gradually developed into the player she is today. That is why we fully supported and assisted her in her efforts to obtain Czech citizenship, which was a logical step in her life.”
This week, the world No. 403 Oktiabreva played the Livesport Prague Open as a wildcard, but lost to France’s Oceane Dodin in the first round. (source: Tennis World USA)
