Daniil Medvedev doesn’t have a flag shown next to his name because he competes under a neutral status due to sanctions on Russian athletes after the invasion of Ukraine.

Quick Scoop: What’s Going On?

  • Medvedev is Russian, but tennis bodies like the ITF, ATP, and WTA ruled in 2022 that Russian and Belarusian players could only compete as individuals, not under their country’s name or flag.
  • That’s why on TV scoreboards, tournament draws, and some profiles you’ll see his name without a national flag, or sometimes with a neutral designation instead of “RUS”.
  • Similar rules have applied at big events (Grand Slams, some tours, and even the Olympics), where Russian athletes have had to compete as neutrals with no anthem or flag.

How It Started

  • After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many sports federations banned Russian and Belarusian teams and symbols, and only allowed individual athletes under neutral status.
  • In tennis, that meant:
    • No Russian/Belarusian flags on scoreboards.
    • No team events (like Davis Cup) for those countries.
    • Players could stay on tour, but stripped of official national symbols.

A concrete example: Medvedev and fellow Russian player Karen Khachanov were reported to have removed the Russian flag from their social media profiles under pressure, with the warning that refusal could risk their ability to compete.

What It Means For Medvedev

  • On broadcasts: His name appears with a blank space or neutral label, not the Russian tricolor.
  • In official listings: He’s often referred to simply by name, or as a neutral/individual athlete depending on event rules.
  • Emotionally, he’s said it is “tough” to talk about playing without his national flag, and he has expressed hope that the situation is temporary while also calling for peace.

Is This Permanent?

  • The “no flag” rule is open‑ended: federations have said it applies “until further notice,” so it depends on future political and sporting decisions.
  • As of early 2026, articles and fan discussions still describe Medvedev competing without a flag because the broader restrictions on Russian athletes remain in place.

TL;DR

He doesn’t have a flag because international tennis and other sports bodies decided that Russian and Belarusian athletes can only compete as neutral individuals—no national flag or symbols—following the war in Ukraine.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.