Russia's Andrey Rublev shares Ukraine Wimbledon wish as he considers changing citizenship

Russian No 1 Andrey Rublev has shared the proposals he gave to Wimbledon after players from the country were banned in the wake of the war in Ukraine. The 24-year-old spoke out against the war back in February but admitted that the only way to play at SW19 would have been to change citizenship - something he is now considering if Russians are banned from all events.

Rublev was one of the first Russian players to speak publicly about the invasion of Ukraine, writing "no war please" on the camera at the Dubai Championships, an ATP 500 tournament he ended up winning. But the Moscow-born star still found himself banned from Wimbledon earlier this month alongside all other players representing Russia and Belarus.

Appearing in a YouTube video with Russian blogger Vitya Kravchenko, the world No 8 has now confessed that he proposed several solutions to the tournament, though revealed nothing would have allowed him to play unless he changed his citizenship - something Russian-born Kazakh Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina did four years ago, allowing her to play and win the grass-court Grand Slam this month.

"Of course I was frustrated. Everything I earn, I invent in my career, and then I'm forbidden from doing my work. It is upsetting for sure, if we speak about tennis," he said of the ban, while admitting he didn't want to watch Wimbledon on TV. "We offered some solutions that could be really helpful diplomatically. Playing in mixed doubles with a Ukrainian player, not coming for the medals.

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"We wanted to use the platform of a championship to show that we don't fight here, that there's no war in tennis. It's most important now. As a tennis player, I