‘Russian-born star storms into Wimbledon final,’ cheered the front page of the Russia Today website.

This, one assumes, is the kind of thing the All England Club was hoping to avoid when, in response to the invasion of Ukraine, they banned Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the Championships.

But Elena Rybakina – born, raised and resident in Moscow – changed nationality to Kazakhstan four years ago in search of funding and so here she was, destroying 2019 champion Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 on her Centre Court debut to tee up a final against Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.

Listen carefully after the No17 seed smote a backhand return winner on match point and, among the cheers of the Wimbledon crowd, one could almost hear the Kremlin propaganda machine cranking into action.

None of that is in Rybakina’s control, of course; all she can control is her tennis and she is doing that tremendously well.

Asked whether she feels she will be representing Russia on Saturday, Rybakina said: ‘I'm really happy representing Kazakhstan. They believed in me.

‘I feel for the players who couldn't come here, but I'm just enjoying playing here on the biggest stage.’

The 23-year-old was a gymnast and figure skater as a child but was told she was too tall to have a future in either sport. That brought her to tennis where her 6ft frame has helped her thunder down 49 aces this fortnight, a tournament high.

Her groundstrokes are penetrative and she moves with a grace born of those childhood pursuits.

Halep missed last year’s Championships due to injury and so, including her run to the 2019 title, came into this match having won 20 consecutive sets at Wimbledon. 

But the 30-year-old Romanian was rocked back by the power of Rybakina, whose poise belied their gulf in Grand Slam pedigree.

She looks every inch a major champion in waiting and would be the first Kazak winner ever of the Wimbledon title. Or, as Russia Today phrased it, the first Russian-born player to win since Maria Sharapova in 2004.