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Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 17, 2021 Russia’s Andrey Rublev during his quarter final match against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
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Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 17, 2021 Russia’s Andrey Rublev during his quarter final match against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
As the French Open is just a few days away, the controversy regarding the next Grand Slam event took another turn. Earlier, Wimbledon decided to ban all the Russian and Belarusian players due to the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Several rumors were flying around about the deduction of points from the Wimbledon, as they would not back out from their decision. A few days back, WTA announced the deduction for every women’s player. Now, ATP also took a hard decision.
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Tennis – ATP Finals – Pala Alpitour, Turin, Italy – November 21, 2021 Russia’s Daniil Medvedev reacts during his final match against against Germany’s Alexander Zverev REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
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ATP will remove ranking points from Wimbledon
In a recent statement, ATP announced, “The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour. …it is with great regret and reluctance that we see no option but to remove ATP Ranking points from Wimbledon for 2022.”
from @atptour : "The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour. …it is with great regret and reluctance that we see no option but to remove ATP Ranking points from Wimbledon for 2022."
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) May 20, 2022
Full ATP statement: pic.twitter.com/6mGBA1ar8u
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) May 20, 2022
“The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour,” ATP further stated.
Now, ITF also said, “The ITF has today confirmed its decision not to grant ITF ranking points to Wimbledon in 2022 for Juniors and Wheelchair tennis events which form part of the Grand Slam tournament.”
The ITF now follow: "The ITF has today confirmed its decision not to grant ITF ranking points to Wimbledon in 2022 for Juniors and Wheelchair tennis events which form part of the Grand Slam tournament."
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) May 20, 2022
It is worth noting that both ATP and WTA were with the Russian and Belarusian players. According to them, players should be able to play a Grand Slam tournament based on their rankings. Clearly, ATP and others didn’t like Wimbledon breaking the rule. Now this decision will not favor anybody, including all the players and Wimbledon.?
What?s next for the Russian and Belarusian players?
After ATP and WTA’s decision, one thing became clear that Wimbledon will not lift the ban despite the removal of the ranking points. Now, some top Russian players like Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev will not take part in this Major event. Particularly, Rublev was vocal about the decision earlier, as he wished to play the event and wanted to donate all the prize money to a humanitarian cause.
Apart from the Russian players, a lot of Belarusian players will also suffer from this. As world no.7, Aryna Sabalenka will also miss this event. A former semifinalist here at Wimbledon, Victoria Azarenka is also barred from participating. However, players are still hoping that Wimbledon could somehow change their minds after ATP’s latest decision.
Will Wimbledon change their decision? Let us know in the comments.
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