why is medvedev flag blank

The reason Daniil Medvedev, a Russian tennis player, has a blank flag next to his name in tournaments is due to a decision taken by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since 2022, Russian and Belarusian players have been allowed to compete only as individuals without representing their countries or displaying their national flags at international tennis events. This measure is intended to prevent Russia and Belarus from gaining propaganda benefits from their athletes' success. The ITF also suspended the Russian and Belarusian tennis federations from team competitions. Medvedev has expressed that playing without a national flag is tough but accepts it as the only way he can continue competing currently. The blank flag represents this "neutral" status, reflecting that the player is not officially representing their country due to these sanctions. There have also been occasions when flags mistakenly appeared due to system errors but were quickly corrected.