British government accused of preventing Daniil Medvedev Laver Cup role

Andrey Rublev has suggested that the British government prevented Daniil Medvedev from taking his place at the Laver Cup.

Medvedev was conspicuous by his absence for Team Europe and him not being part of the line-up was never addressed by tournament organisers.

Laver Cup rules state that the top three players in the ATP world rankings on the day after the French Open final receive automatic invites to take part.

On that day, Medvedev was the world number two behind Novak Djokovic, so his place should have been assured.

However, the automatic picks ended up being Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas, with the latter two apparently being stand-ins for the injured Alexander Zverev and the mysteriously absent Medvedev.

Rublev, though, says he believes a continuation of the British government policy that saw Russian players banned from Wimbledon led to Medvedev not being allowed to play at the O2 Arena either.

When asked if he was ever in the frame to play the Laver Cup, Rublev said: “Not me. I know that Daniil Medvedev [was].

“But there is also the British government, and they hinted that it probably won’t work.”

Team Europe went on to lose the Laver Cup for the first time in tournament history.

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