In this way, Daniel MedvedevWorld N.2, Andrew Rublev (No.8), Aryna Sabalenka (4th and semifinalist last year, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (15th) and Viktoria Azarenka (ex-N.1 and currently 18th) will not be able to fight for the title of the biggest grass-court tournament on the calendar.
“In the circumstances of an unprecedented and unjustified military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive the slightest benefit from the participation of Russian and Belarusian tennis players.”explained the All England Lawn Tennis Club in a statement released this Wednesday.
“We therefore intend, with deep regret, to refuse the entry of Russian and Belarusian players at Wimbledon.”added the organizer of the test, who specified that he could rule out this radical measure if “circumstances change radically between now and June.”
“We admit that this decision is hard on the affected people individually and they are the ones who will sadly suffer the acts of the leaders of the Russian regime”justified the president of the All England Club, Ian Hewitt.
“Once again, they make athletes hostage to political prejudice, political intrigue (…) It is unacceptable”Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov criticized for his part before the measure was officially announced.
Following the recommendations of International Olympic Committee (IOC), Russian and Belarusian athletes have been excluded from numerous international competitions in athletics, figure skating, as well as the Paralympic Games in Beijing and the World Cups in football and swimming.
In tennis, tournaments in Russia and Belarus were cancelled, while these two countries were banned from team competitions (Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup, both won by Russia last year).
But on an individual basis and under a neutral flag, tennis players from these two countries were authorized to continue competing in the ATP and WTA tournaments.
However, the four Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open), are independent of the men’s and women’s circuits.
The ATP reacted immediately and through a statement described the decision as “unfair”, which also extends to other tournaments such as Queen’s or Eastbourne that are sponsored by the ATP.
“Discrimination based on nationality is also a violation of our agreements with Wimbledon under which a player’s participation is based solely on his ranking.”denounced the entity, specifying that it will analyze the situation before making decisions.
The WTA also rejected the measure taken: “We are very disappointed with today’s announcement … to ban individual athletes from Russia and Belarus from competing in upcoming UK grass-court events,” it said in a statement.
“A fundamental principle of the WTA is that individual athletes can participate in professional tennis events on the basis of merit and without any form of discrimination”he added.
At the moment, neither French Tennis Federation (FFT), which organizes Roland Garros (May 22 to June 5) nor the American (USTA), responsible for the US Open (from August 29 to September 11) have planned to exclude Russian and Belarusian tennis players.
Some sources had told the Times that after two months of talks, Wimbledon organizers have preferred to ban the participation of Russian and Belarusian players rather than adhere to a compromise solution proposed by the British government.
These negotiations sought to get these players to sign a statement that they would not make favorable comments to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But Wimbledon organizers believe that signing such declarations could have a negative impact on the players’ families.
Russian and Belarusian players have been mum in their condemnation of the conflict, although Rublev uttered a “no war please” on a television camera during a competition in Dubai shortly after the invasion began.
“I want peace in the whole world,” contented himself with saying Medvedev, who is currently recovering from a hernia operation and is doubtful for Roland-Garros.
Azarenka, a former world number one and two-time Australian Open winner, was more outspoken. “It is heartbreaking to see how innocent people have been and continue to be affected by this violence,” the 32-year-old tennis player said in March.
“I have always seen Ukrainians and Belarusians as friendly and supportive people towards each other. It is difficult to witness the violent separation that takes place today”added the current 18th in the WTA.
These statements were described as insufficient by several Ukrainian players, including Elina Svitolina (ex-N.5), who reiterated her request to the ATP and WTA to exclude tennis players from these two countries if they do not correctly answer three specific questions in a statement: Do you support the invasion (…)? Do you support military activities (…)? Do you support the Putin and Lukashenko regimes?
“Based on the answers, we demand the exclusion and suspension of Russian and Belarusian athletes from all international competition, as Wimbledon has done,” adds the text published this Wednesday on social networks.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which oversees major Wimbledon warm-up tournaments such as Queen’s and Eastbourne, has decided to follow Wimbledon’s example and will ban Russian and Belarusian tennis players from its events.
In its statement, the ATP reiterated its condemnation of the “invasion of Ukraine and we are in solidarity with the millions of innocent people affected by the war”, but maintained that “Russian and Belarusian players will be able to continue competing in ATP tournaments under a neutral flag” .
Source: Ambito
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