Andy Murray criticizes the removal of Wimbledon ranking points saying it’s ‘not a great move’
Former British number one Andy Murray has criticized the decision of the ATP and WTA to remove ranking points from this years Wimbledon, as he branded the decision as “not a great move.”
Earlier this month, The Championships were stripped of the ranking points in response to Wimbledon banning Russian and Belarusian players over the crisis in Ukraine.
Fellow British star Cameron Norrie admitted that the ATP and WTA’s decision means that the players will “not be playing for anything” as he raised concerns about the top players playing at this years Summer Slam.
In fact, the decision has led to some players, such as four-time major winner, Naomi Osaka, say she is unlikely to play Wimbledon this year since it cannot help her world ranking.
Former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray responded to Naomi Osaka saying that “Wimbledon will never be an exhibition.”
Now, the Scot has followed up on his response to Naomi Osaka as he slammed the ATP and WTA’s decision to strip SW19 of it’s ranking points.
Speaking after he thrashed Jurij Rodionov 6-2 6-1 in the first round of the Surbiton Trophy grass-court event on Monday, Murray remained defiant as he argued that Wimbledon will still attract the biggest names.
Andy Murray told reporters, “They’ve taken points away – everyone’s still showing up.
“My belief is Wimbledon will go ahead and have an extremely strong player field.
“Removing the points, if it doesn’t stop players from playing then I don’t think it’s a great move from the ATP. A lot of the players are frustrated and didn’t want that to happen.”
“I don’t believe there’s anyone at the ATP that supports what’s happening in Ukraine.
“I think they’re trying to protect the players the best they can and that’s the decision that they’ve taken. Some players are fine with the decision but I think the majority of them were not.
“I spoke to some of the Russian players in Madrid and I feel for those players as well. I like them and I’m friends with them and I don’t believe they’re in favour of what’s happening [in Ukraine] either.
“But I appreciate that it’s not that easy for them to talk about it publicly. It’s a difficult one.”
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