Russian born Anastasia Rodionova to become Australian citizenA five-year battle ends for Anastasia Rodionova next week when she finally becomes an Australian citizen and gives the country three women in the top 100 for next month's Australian Open.
It follows three weeks after Slovakian-born Jarmilla Groth also finally became an Australian citizen. Rodionova's ceremony will be in Melbourne next Thursday. The timing could not be more perfect for the 27-year-old Russian-born player as her first Grand Slam for her new country will now also be her home Slam (January 18-31).
"That sends tingles down my spine when I hear that," said Rodionova's partner of five years, Lorne Padman.
The two met at a nightclub in Melbourne when Rodionova first played at Melbourne Park under the Russian flag in January 2005.
"Six months after we met we realised we wanted to be together for the rest of our lives. We thought the easiest thing would be for her to live here rather than me trying to adapt to a new culture," Padman said.
"Anastasia always told me she felt like an Australian because she loved the lifestyle and people so much. But it's been a long fight to get citizenship."
Rodionova, who has been as high as No 63, is ranked 96 and will automatically qualify for the singles main draw in Melbourne along with Sam Stosur (13) and Jelena Dokic (57). She said her citizenship test of 20 questions made her as nervous as before a big match but she scored 100 per cent "because I studied hard and knew most of the answers anyway".
"I think everyone who moves to Australia should know some of the major dates like Anzac Day and Australia Day and a bit of the history. I think it's very reasonable," she said.
Like Groth, Rodionova will put her hand up for Australia's Fed Cup team.
Groth and Rodionova fell victims to the Howard government's immigration laws which stated a person had to live in Australia for nine months a year to qualify for citizenship. But professional athletes such as tennis players and golfers who ply their trade worldwide could not meet that criteria. The Rudd government changed the laws three months ago.
In tennis, the world governing body, the ITF, demanded a passport as proof of citizenship, although it did allow individual Grand Slams the discretion to change a player's nationality. That is why Groth and Rodionova have played under the Australian flag for the past two Australian Opens but were designated Slovakian and Russian elsewhere on tour.
"I will be a real Australian this time," Rodionova said.
Source -
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sp ... 5806773260Wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_Rodionova