Russian, Belarusian players banned from Wimbledon

• The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts the Wimbledon Championships made the decision
• Among those who will miss out are Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka, Karen Khachanov
• In March, Medvedev and Olympic silver medalist Karen Khachanov deleted the Russian flag from their Instagram accounts
• However, this wasn’t a guarantee that Russian players would travel to any of the countries that the ATP Tour stops in

Russian and Belarusian tennis players won’t compete in the 2022 Wimbledon Championships after a ban following Russia’s Ukraine invasion.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts the Wimbledon Championships said this is one of the measures of countering Russia.

The Club according to Tennis365 is working to “restrict Russia’s worldwide influence by the strongest measures available.”

Leading players affected by the ban are world No.2 Daniil Medvedev and Aryna Sabalenka – Belarusian WTA World No 4.

Daniil Medvedev. Photo/Sky Sports

Other affected players include world No.26 Karen Khachanov and world No.8 Andry Rublev.

World No.15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus will also miss Wimbledon.

A statement from The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) laid it all bare in explaining its decision.

It maintained that in the context of such unjustified and unprecedented military assault, it would be inappropriate for the Russian regime to draw any benefits from the engagement of Russian and Belarusian players.

The club added that it is a sound decision to deny entries from Russian and Belarusian players to Wimbledon.

“On behalf of the All England Club and the Committee of Management of The Championships, we wish to express our ongoing support for all those impacted by the conflict in Ukraine during these shocking and distressing times,” the AELTC statement said.

“We share in the universal condemnation of Russia’s illegal actions and have carefully considered the situation in the context of our duties to the players, to our community and to the broader UK public as a British sporting institution.

Further, Russian and Belarusian players won’t compete in any other grass-court tournaments in the UK.

They were banned in Eastbourne, Queen’s Club, and Birmingham among others according to The Lawn Tennis Association.

AELTC added that as a British sporting institution, they carefully assessed the situation in the context of their responsibility to the players. They also considered the community and the greater UK public.

Daniil Medvedev Wimbledon ban. Photo/Tennishead

The club asserted that it also took into account the UK Government’s special guidelines in relation to sporting bodies and events.

“Given the profile of The Championships in the United Kingdom and around the world, it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of Government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible.”

Wimbledon is slated for June 27 to July 10 this year. As things stand, Russian and Belarusian players will compete at the French Open. It is set to take place at Roland Garros in May.

In March, Medvedev and Olympic silver medalist Karen Khachanov deleted the Russian flag from their Instagram accounts.

However, this wasn’t a guarantee that Russian players would travel to any of the countries that the ATP Tour stops in.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic criticized the Wimbledon ban for Russian and Belarusian players. The Serbian said that though he condemns Russia for the invasion, a ban is uncalled for.

He said Russian and Belarusian players have no fault because they do not control politics in their countries. Thus, a blanket ban by Wimbledon is unjustified and uncalled for.

“It’s not the athletes’ fault. When politics interfere with sport, it usually doesn’t turn out well.”