Moscow: Former world No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, all but retired from professional tennis, has entered next week’s Russian amateur golf meet.

While the world’s top tennis players battle it out on the grasscourts at Wimbledon, the 30-year-old Kafelnikov will be teeing off at the Moscow Country Club. “He has already submitted his application,” Konstantin Kozhevnikov, president of the Russian Golf Association, told a news conference on Thursday.

Kafelnikov has not played a competitive match since October last year but has not publicly announced his retirement.

The former French and Australian Open champion has gained considerable weight but Kozhevnikov said Kafelnikov, the most successful Russian tennis player of all time, was serious about his new passion.

“Yevgeny is an avid golfer with a handicap of four and I can honestly say if he trained regularly for this event he would have a good chance of winning it,” said Kozhevnikov.

Ivan Lendl, the former world No. 1, played in the European Tour’s Czech Open of 1996.