Former Ukraine’s junior tennis number one Nikita Belozertsev to represent another country
Promising 17-year-old tennis player Nikita Belozertsev will no longer represent Ukraine on the world courts. The athlete, who was previously embroiled in a scandal for ignoring the Ukrainian language, will now officially compete under the flag of another country.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the official website of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Also read: Gymnastics coach who fled to Belarus punished in Ukraine: his wife also faced consequences
New flag and old grievances
Rumors about Belozertsev’s potential change of citizenship emerged last year during the junior Wimbledon, but at that time, it was about Bulgaria. Ultimately, the athlete chose Uzbekistan, which likely offered more attractive financial conditions.
The relevant changes are already reflected in the player’s profile on the ITF website – as of today, the 13th-ranked junior in the world is listed as a representative of the Uzbekistan national team. There have been no official comments from the player or the Tennis Federation of Ukraine regarding the loss of their top-ranked player so far.
Language scandal at Wimbledon
The player’s reputation, representing Khmelnytskyi, took a serious hit in 2025. At that time, while competing at junior Wimbledon, the tennis player categorically refused to answer journalists’ questions in Ukrainian.
The athlete’s coach stated that Belozertsev would communicate exclusively in English or Russian. This incident sparked outrage among fans, and today’s change of flag marks a logical conclusion to the series of events surrounding the athlete.
Last performance for Ukraine
Belozertsev is ranked 13th in the ITF junior world rankings. Last year, he won his debut professional title, becoming the champion at the ITF M15 tournament in Serbia.
As recently as January 2026, Belozertsev competed as a representative of Ukraine at the Australian Open, where he reached the third round of the junior tournament. However, his last match as a Ukrainian was in the qualifying round of a challenger event in Split, Croatia, which took place on Sunday, March 22. There, Nikita lost in two sets to Italian Filippo Romano.
It is worth noting that Belozertsev is not the only one who has decided to represent Uzbekistan recently. Over the past six months, several Russian female tennis players, including Kamilla Rahimova, Polina Kudermetova, and Maria Timofeeva, have obtained sports citizenship of this country.
Earlier, we reported on the transition of European gymnastics champion Radomir Stelmakh to the German national team.
