Several legendary tennis players together did not understand the Wimbledon tournament’s decision to suspend Russian players, reports Fox News. International tennis authorities allow Russians to play in all tournaments, but Wimbledon organizers themselves excluded players with Russian and Belarusian passports from their competitions.
The organizers said Russia and Belarus should not take advantage of such events.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal expressed their disagreement with the decision of the Wimbledon organizers to ban Russian and Belarusian tennis players from participating in the second most important tournament of the season because Russian President Vladimir Putin started a military special operation in Ukraine, while Belarus supported the Kremlin.
This ban affected Daniil Medvedev, who ranks second in the ATP tennis ranking and is the reigning U.S. Open men’s singles champion. The ban also affected Belarusian tennis player Arina Sobolenko, who ranks fourth in the world rankings.
“I think it’s very unfair to my fellow Russian tennis players. They are not to blame for what is happening,” Nadal said while in Spain, where he and the Serbian tennis star are preparing for the Madrid Open.
Nadal added: “I feel sorry for them. The organizers just made their own decision. The authorities didn’t force them to do it. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks – whether these players will make any decision on this.”
Djokovic compared the Wimbledon organizers’ decision to the situation when he himself was banned from the Australian Open and from entering Australia because he was not vaccinated for a coronavirus infection.
“It’s not the same thing, but having been through something similar earlier this year, I understand how hard it is to realize that you don’t have the opportunity to play. I don’t support the decision of the Wimbledon organizers. I just don’t think it’s fair, it’s not right,” said Djokovic.
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which runs the Wimbledon tournament, tried to explain its decision in a statement posted on Twitter.
“In the face of such an unjustified and unprecedented military operation, it would be unacceptable to allow the Russian regime to profit in any way from the participation of Russian or Belarusian athletes in the Wimbledon tournament,” the organizers said.
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