Amidst the Russia-Ukraine conflict, every sport has taken some step to showcase its disapproval. For tennis, the removal of nation tags and usage of white flags were implemented. Every player and regulatory body found the decision fair. However, recent actions from Wimbledon have given rise to controversial actions in the tennis world.

The organizers of Wimbledon decided to ban players from Russia and Belarus. The ban witnessed heavy disapproval from fans, entities, and regulatory bodies, with ATP and WTA stripping the championship off its ranking points. Recently, the ATP chief explained the reasons behind their decision.

ATP’s justification about their decision related to Wimbledon

Andrea Gaudenzi, while speaking to the Italian press, said, “As far as Wimbledon is concerned. We found ourselves in a situation where no one wanted to be. We responded to a unilateral decision by Wimbledon and we would have preferred to take this decision together with everyone else, also to have a uniformity of action.”

 “From our point of view, it would have been hard for us to look away when there were 60 players involved in this decision. Players who, from their point of view, were willing to do so many things, and who have done nothing wrong and who are not supporting what is happening.” Gaudenzi added.

Read more: ‘I Find it Unfair’–Daniil Medvedev Talks About the Repercussions of Wimbledon’s Ban on Russian and Belarusian Players

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Thereafter, he addressed the reasoning Wimbledon gave and said, “I understand the propaganda theme, and the arguments brought by Wimbledon. But at the end of the day, calculating everything, we are a global sport, and we must use our platform to unite, without discriminating people owing to their passport. Let’s hope it will never happen again. Sometimes you have to break an egg to make an omelette.”

How did the players respond?

When speaking about a major tournament such as Wimbledon, one might expect players to not mind the ranking points because of the status of the event. However, it seems like ranking points are equally important for some players like Naomi Osaka. Recently the former World No.1  took part in the clay-based Grand Slam and spoke about how the stripping of ranking points has made her lose interest in the tournament.

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On the other hand, the current World No.1 Iga Swiatek had a different take about the subject. The polish tennis professional accepted that the tournament holds value even without the points. And the 2022 French Open champion declared that she will participate in the event regardless of the ranking point situation.