Wimbledon reportedly make decision on Russian and Belarusian players as Daniil Medvedev weighs in
Wimbledon has reportedly come to a decision on whether Russian and Belarusian players will be allowed to participate at The Championships this year, after they were banned in 2022 due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The grass court major has reportedly decided to allow players from Russia and Belarus at the tournament, according to the Daily Mail, however it is apparently under certain conditions.
The conditions that are said to be in the works mean that “any explicit show of support for Russia, such as carrying a flag or talking positively about the country” would lead to punishment, including potentially being kicked out of the tournament.
Players competing under a neutral flag is not something that is new to players from Russia and Belarus, with them doing so since the war began last year.
The All England Club has not made an official announcement on these reports, and is not expected to until the Wimbledon spring conference next month.
However, it appears that the organisation has succumb to the alleged ‘threats’ made by both the ATP and WTA tours.
It was reported that the ATP had threatened to sell licenses for LTA tournaments including Queen’s had players not been able to compete, and the WTA had offered to half the $1 million (£830,000) fine Wimbledon received last year as an incentive to make this decision.
Two of the biggest names affected by this decision, 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev and reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, have had their say.
“I’m not going to make this decision for them or even help them make this decision,” said Medvedev. “They have to make it by themselves for their different reasons like they did last year.”
He continued, “And I always said I will respect this decision. I play where I can play… tennis is my job so I would be really happy to play Wimbledon.
“I absolutely love that tournament, but if it’s not meant to be, I’m going to wait for the opportunity to be back there.”
No.2 Sabalenka, who reached the Wimbledon semi-final in 2021, spoke of how the reaction from the tournament and others made her feel, “The reaction of people, some different things made me feel really bad – that this is my fault.”
“But then I realised that this is not under my control. I did nothing, nothing bad against Ukrainian people. This is just not my fault.”
The Wimbledon Championships begin later this year on the 3rd July, with Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina looking to defend their titles.
Last night 🏆#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Z3Squ4c6B3
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2022
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