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Russian tennis duo Andrey Rublev and Daria Kasatkina have suggested they may defect to another country in order to compete at Wimbledon in the future - while Kasatkina admitted she may never return home after she admirably came out as gay.

Rublev, the Russian men’s No.2 and World No.8, and Kasatkina, the national No.1 and World No.12, raised the prospect of switching nationality following their ban from this year’s edition of the Championships following the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.

The duo made the comments in an interview aired a week after former compatriot Elena Rybakina’s Wimbledon triumph. Russia was quick to claim credit for the victory by Rybakina – who switched allegiance to Kazakhstan in 2018 – in an attempt to use the victory as propaganda during the war in Ukraine.

The Wimbledon ban has been questioned considering Russian doubles specialist Natela Dzalamidze was allowed to represent Georgia in a late switch, and Rublev and Kasatkina have refused to rule anything out. In a video interview with Russian blogger Vitya Kravchenko, Rublev said: “Speaking about access to Wimbledon, it would be