Russia's Daniil Medvedev reacts after a point against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas during their men's singles semi-final match of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on February 19, 2021. (Photo by Brandon MALONE / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by BRANDON MALONE/AFP via Getty Images)
Wimbledon is set to bar Russian and Belarusian players from participating in the tournament scheduled to take place in June
As per reports, Wimbledon authorities are set to announce that they would bar Russian and Belarusian players from playing in the tournament this year as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Belarus’ direct support of the war. If this decision is officially announced, Wimbledon would become the first tennis event to restrict individual Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing.
Earlier this year, ITF, ATP and WTA had got together to ban the Russian and Belarusian tennis federations but they allowed individual players to participate in all tournaments under a neutral banner. There are no flags or countries listed next to their names on scoreboards, in draws or in the published computer rankings.
The decision would lead to excluding a number of highly ranked players. Four Russian men are ranked in the top 30 on the ATP Tour, including No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, who is the reigning U.S. Open men’s singles champion, although he is currently recovering from a hernia operation. Russia has five women in the top 40 of the WTA Tour rankings, led by No. 15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus is ranked No. 4 and was a Wimbledon semifinalist last year. Her compatriot Victoria Azarenka, a former No. 1, is ranked No. 18.
There are contrasting reactions on Twitter regarding this decision which is likely to be made official very soon. However, from the initial reactions of the fans on Twitter we understand that they are not happy with the decision and have expressed their strong support for the players.
“These players did not cause or participate in any of this. This is wrong. In fact some such as Rublev have been outspoken against the war”, tweeted a fan who is visibly taking a stance in favour of the players.
Another fan voiced strong opinion against this decision. “Wimbledon is setting a terrible precedent. Except for national teams competitions like Davis & Fed Cup, tennis is an individual sport. Players mostly represent themselves. Some are originally from one country and play for another. Is Wimbledon going to ask for birth certificates?”
“So, we are going to punish Medvedev and Rublev for the actions of Putin? Absolutely ridiculous”, wrote another fan.
Fans mostly echoed similar sentiments. “This is totally unacceptable. Like he’s world number 2 and all the Russian tennis players have agreed to play under a different flag. They didn’t do anything to deserve this”, tweeted another user.
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