Wimbledon ‘should have taken a different decision,’ says coach of ATP star

The ATP ‘could have made a different decision’ about stripping the Wimbledon ranking points, says Vincenzo Santopadre, who coaches Matteo Berrettini.

Wimbledon made the decision to ban players from Russia and Belarus due to the conflict in Ukraine, becoming the first tennis tournament to directly sanction players.

In response, the ATP announced Wimbledon would have no ranking points this year, essentially reducing it to a glorified exhibition.

Berrettini, reached the final at Wimbledon last year, meaning he is certain to fall out of the world top 20 after the points from last year drop.

That is obviously far from ideal from the Italian’s point of view, and his coach has spoken out about the decision.

“The charm of Wimbledon is indisputable,” Santopadre told the Italian media.

“It is a special place for him where he left so many good memories. Even the less passionate about this sport discovered Matteo thanks to the results obtained at Wimbledon.

“Wimbledon is a tournament that makes its own history. I tell you that perhaps a different decision could have been made, other than stripping the points.

“It’s not easy to change your mind about an event of this magnitude that has instilled in your DNA a very different mentality than others.

“I strongly doubt that they’ll change their mind.”

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