This year’s Wimbledon will take place without Russian and Belarusian players due to the ongoing the invasion of Ukraine.
This development will affect the highest-ranked players: Men’s world number two Daniil Medvedev of Russia and women’s world number four Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus as they won’t be competing at the global sporting event.
he ban for the players has gone beyond Wimbledon which runs from 27 June to 10 July, as they have also been banned from any of the UK grass-court tournaments.
The tennis super stars’ absence has prompted reactions from a lot of sports enthusiasts and fans, especially the governing body of men’s tennis who said the move was “unfair ” and could “set a damaging precedent for the game”.
In a statement the ATP said: “Discrimination based on nationality also constitutes a violation of our agreement with Wimbledon that states that player entry is based solely on ATP rankings.
“Any course of action in response to this decision will now be assessed in consultation with our board and member councils.”
In all of these, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has explained its decision claiming it had a responsibility to “limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible”.
“In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players,” a statement from the AELTC read.
“It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to Wimbledon.”
