World No 1 Daniil Medvedev has said he is "waiting for the moment" he is allowed to play under the Russian flag again despite there appearing no immediate end to his country's invasion of Ukraine.
Since the conflict began on February 24, Russia and Belarus - who have backed Vladimir Putin's decision to declare war - have been the subject of numerous sporting sanctions.
Indeed, last week their athletes were barred from competing in the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, despite having already arrived in China.
FIFA and UEFA have also removed Russia's national football side from the World Cup play-offs, after the Polish Football Association stated they would forfeit the game against their upcoming opponents.
The International Tennis Federation [ITF] have thus far stopped short of a blanket ban on players from either country, but have aligned themselves with world sporting bodies by ruling athletes from both nations must compete as neutrals.
That has meant removing the flag of either country from events, whilst this month's Moscow Open, an ATP Challenger Tournament, was cancelled.
Furthermore, the 2022 Kremlin Cup, that was scheduled to take place in the Russian capital in October, has also been axed.
However Medvedev, 26, who prior to becoming the world's top player was runner-up at the Australian Open to Rafael Nadal, has argued that the measures placed on Russian players should only be temporary.
“Our task is to develop tennis in the countries where each of us comes from and all over the world,” Medvedev said to Russian state government aligned media outlet RIA Novosti .
“For that, you have to play tennis every week at every tournament. At the moment, the only way to continue is to play without a flag, and I will follow this rule.
“But I hope that this measure will be temporary. I am waiting for the moment when we will be able to carry the flag again next to our names, of the Russian athletes.”
Despite his plea, Medvedev, along with Olympic silver medallist Karen Khachanov, has removed the Russian flag from his Instagram account.
As well as Medvedev and Khachanov, Andrey Rublev and Aslan Karatsev are among the high-profile male players who have to adhere to the sanctions.
Women’s stars who have been affected include Aryna Sabalenka, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Victoria Azarenka, Veronika Kudermetova and Daria Kasatkina.
