Overview
- Potapova announced on Instagram that Austria has approved her citizenship and that she will compete for the country starting in 2026.
- Once the change takes effect, she will be Austria’s top-ranked woman, overtaking Julia Grabher, and she is currently ranked No. 51.
- Her move follows recent nationality switches by Kamilla Rakhimova and Maria Timofeeva to Uzbekistan and Daria Kasatkina to Australia, part of a trend since 2022 bans on Russian teams.
- She will be eligible to compete for Austria in the Billie Jean King Cup, having previously played two matches for Russia in 2018–2019.
- Former world No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov criticized her decision, while Potapova recently expressed hope Russian players can return to official team events after playing a St. Petersburg exhibition.