Former Top 5-player Anna Chakvetadze has been named as candidate for Russia’s Right Cause party in the upcoming elections for the country's Duma. The 24-year-old has been struggling with dizziness this season and has not played since Wimbledon.
The Right Cause Party is going through turmoil after leader and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov was ousted from its top spot last week. It is unclear what Chakvetadze would that would mean for her tennis career if elected, but some Russian political analysts are saying that’s unlikely. Chakvetadze says she wanted to "try something new" and focus on women's rights and children's sports.
The Right Cause, which is a pro-business party, is alleged to only have the support of about two percent of the population. "Right Cause will pose no threat to the Kremlin after it decided to trade President Dmitry Medvedev for a second-tier female tennis star on its party list for the elections," wrote the Moscow Times.