Tarpishchev, who has served as RTF President since 1999, told Russia's official state news agency TASS that he would run for a fresh four-year term when the body holds its election next month.

He looks set to secure another term at the helm after the RTF Board nominated him for the position.

"I intend to be re-elected to the Presidency," he said.

It is not yet clear whether anyone will challenge Tarpishchev, who will have held the position for 25 years if he is re-elected at the RTF conference on November 18.

The deadline for candidates is October 30, with the vote set to be held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tarpishchev, who became an IOC member in 1994, was re-elected unopposed in 2016.

The 72-year-old has proven a controversial figure in Russian tennis during his RTF reign as he was fined and suspended from the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour for a year in 2014 after allegedly making sexist and insulting remarks about the Williams sisters during a television interview.

He called the American siblings the "Williams brothers" on a television chat show, before claiming his comments had been taken out of context.

Tarpischev also leapt to the defence of Maria Sharapova in 2016 after the five-time Grand Slam champion tested positive for the banned substance meldonium.

Sharapova's two-year ban for failing a drugs test was reduced to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in October 2016.

Russia has two men, Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov, in the top 20 of the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings.

Ekaterina Alexandrova is the highest-ranked Russian on the WTA standings as she occupies 33rd spot.