Wimbledon, the first tennis tournament to ban Russian athletes

by time news

Russian tennis players are finally deprived of the London lawn. Wimbledon, one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, excluded athletes of Russian and Belarusian nationalities on Wednesday April 20, in response to the military invasion of Ukraine. A decision immediately criticized as “unfair” by the ATP, the organization that manages the men’s professional tennis circuit.

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“Under the circumstances of unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefit from the participation of Russian or Belarusian players,” explain the organizers. “We therefore intend, with deep regret, to reject the registration of Russian and Belarusian players at Wimbledon. »

Roland-Garros maintains the participation of the Russians

This decision thus prevents Daniil Medvedev, ranked 2nd in the world at ATP, and Andrey Rublev (8th) from having a chance to win the trophy. The latter had however openly spoken out against the war led by Vladimir Putin. Karen Khachanov (28th), who reached the quarter-finals last year, will also not be able to play in the tournament.

As for the players, the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (18th, ex-No. 1) and the Russians Daria Kasatkina (26th) and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (15th) will not be able to line up. The British Tennis Federation intends to go further in the sanctions imposed on Russian sports by also prohibiting the participation of its athletes in the tournaments of Queens (ATP 500) and Eastbourne (ATP 250).

The wrath of the ATP

The London organizers are thus the first to adopt such a posture in the world of tennis. And their choice made the ATP, which manages the men’s circuit, jump: “The decision (…) to exclude Russian and Belarusian players from grass-court tournaments this season is unfair and may set a damaging precedent for tennis”.

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The ATP therefore in turn brandishes the threat of sanctions against the London tournament. “Discrimination based on nationality is also a breach of our agreements with Wimbledon under which a player’s participation is based solely on their ranking. We will now analyze (…) the follow-up to be given to this decision”.

Until then, Russians have been allowed to compete under a neutral flag in tournaments. Contacted by France Info, the organizers of Roland-Garros have reaffirmed that Russian and Belarusian players will be able to tread the clay courts of Paris “in the current state of affairs”.

An international ban

Tennis displays a singularity compared to many other sports which have decided to exclude Russia and its athletes. Last week, the International Volleyball Federation announced the replacement of Russia… by Ukraine. A sanction which comes a month after having deprived Moscow of the organization of the competition. Similarly, international organizations for cycling, ice hockey, basketball, winter sports (skiing, hockey, skating, etc.) or athletics have banned Russian athletes from competitions.

From the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the vast majority of players in international sport quickly excluded or suspended Belarus and the Russian Federation from their competitions. Host country of the 2018 World Cup, Russia was thus excluded from qualifying for the 2022 edition of the competition organized in Qatar by Fifa.

The International Olympic Committee, which organizes the Games, also recommended in late February the banning of Russia and Belarus from all international competitions. A decision already applied in early March during the Paralympic Games in Beijing.

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