And in the end Kate Middleton awarded a “Russian” tennis player at Wimbledon

And in the end Kate Middleton awarded a “Russian” tennis player at Wimbledon

Fate often wins with irony. She did it to Wimbledon, the tournament that this year excluded, the only one to do so, Russian and Belarusian tennis players, due to the position of the British government in support of Ukraine (today’s resigned Boris Johnson had insisted on this choice), but above all to prevent a member of the royal family should award a player of the two nations. And what is fate doing to you? It leads to a girl who has Kazakh nationality to win, but only since 2018. Elena Rybakinaborn in Moscow, won the Wimbledon tournament and was there to reward her Kate Middleton.

No embarrassment, at least in appearance, for the Duchess of Cambridge: officially the 23-year-old number 23 in the world is Kazakh, which remains so given that Wimbledon does not award points this year. He still trains in Moscow, but like all tennis players he points out that he is always around the world. Elena Rybakina beat Ons Jabeur in three sets: 3-6; 6-2; 6-2. For the Tunisian, who is third in the world and was visibly disappointed, Kate Middleton’s words of consolation.

Both Rybakina and Jabeur were in their first final in a Grand Slam tournament. Both have particular stories behind them. Rybakina, one meter 84 of power is Kazakh since 2018, when former president Nursultan Nazarbayev decided to invest, money and passports, in promising Russian tennis players such as the new Wimbledon winner and Alexander Bublik.

The story of 27-year-old Jabeur, who arrived late to the big tournaments because her parents wanted her to complete her studies, could have been the first African woman and the first Muslim to win Wimbledon and more generally a Grand Slam tournament, is quite another. For her country she is a symbol, one that breaks down walls. She does it from the meter of her and 77 and with an elegant tennis. In Tunisia they call her the minister of happiness because she is nice and outspoken. Her tears at the end of the game also prove it. You will have other opportunities. The decision to exclude Russians and Belarusians from the tournament seems to be a missed opportunity. A certainty came from the final. Certain prohibitions in global sport make very little sense.

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Source: Vanity Fair