Daniil Medvedev was the main victim of Wimbledon’s decision not to allow the participation of Russians and Belarusians. Photo: REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo
The ATP and the WTA, the bodies that govern professional tennis circuits, announced on Friday that they will not distribute any points in the next Wimbledon tournament if Russian and Belarusian players continue not to including this due to the invasion of Ukraine.
This is a nod to the top tennis players affected by the ban such as the defending champion and reigning world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, no. 7 Andrey Rublev, no. 7 Aryna Sabalenka, last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist, and Victoria Azarenka, former No. 1 who has won the Australian Open twice.
And the wink is even bigger. Because Medvedev, this way, will reach 7,800 points and return to the number one in the world he holds in a few weeks and Serbian Novak Djokovic (6,660), whatever happens, will be third in the ATP ranking behind from to German Alexander Zverev (6895). The top 5 will be completed by Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and Spanish Rafael Nadal. Yes, it will raise dust in the arenas of international diplomacy and, especially, in the world of tennis.
In April, tournament organizers announced that they would not allow Russians and Belarusians to compete in the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. It is a decision in line with action taken in various sports, including the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers in Qatar, since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February. Belarus is considered a country cooperating with the country led by Vladimir Putin.
Another blow for Djokovic in a difficult year. Photo: AP
ATP was the first producer
The ATP was the first to move the pieces and announced its decision not to distribute points in All England games on Friday, two days before the French Open starts, and more than a month before the Wimbledon action begins, scheduled for June 27.
“With great bitterness and frustration we announced that Wimbledon would not award ranking points because we had no other choice,” the ATP explained when confirming the proposal, after being one of the first to reject the organizers ’decision. order as unfair and discriminatory. .
“Our policies exist to protect the rights of players and unilateral decisions of this kind can create a disastrous precedent if they are not dealt with properly. Discrimination of tournaments is unacceptable,” he said. added an ATP note.
And he closed: “If nothing changes, we are deeply sorry but we see no other possibility but to withdraw ATP points at Wimbledon for the 2022 edition.”
Initially, the ATP 500-level Queen’s and ATP 250-level Eastbourne tournaments, like other UK Challengers, will not be affected by this measure adopted by the ATP and will report points to participants.
The WTA explanation
“The WTA believes that individual athletes who participate in an individual sport should not be punished or prevented from competing simply because they are in a country or because of decisions made by the governments of their countries,” it said in a statement.
The governing body for women’s tennis stressed that “recent decisions by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to ban athletes from competing in the upcoming UK grass-court event violate that basic principle., which is clearly enshrined in the WTA rules, in the Grand Slam rules and in the agreement that the WTA has on Grand Slams. “
Therefore, the women’s circuit ruled that “the WTA has made the difficult decision not to award WTA ranking points for this year’s Wimbledon qualification.”
As decided by the ATP, which left other grass tournaments in the UK before Wimbledon without sanctions, the WTA indicated that “each of the WTA-sanctioned events (Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne) will be penalized and the their penalties for WTA tournaments will be put to the test.Because alternative and comparable opportunities for play and ranking points exist in the same weeks of those events for the affected players, the points in WTA rankings will remain valid for those events. ” .
And the ITF too
Immediately afterwards, the International Tennis Federation joined this decision which it published with a note, for the Wimbledon juniors and wheelchair tennis competitions it had organized.
“Tournament organizers cannot unilaterally impose an entry standard that is inconsistent with the ITF’s published open entry standard. Therefore, in accordance with its protocols, the ITF has the right to withdraw rankings. integrity of its international competition, especially its qualification system, as there is a lack of equal alternative opportunities for players to compete for ranking points and prize money, ”he pointed out.
The ITF recognizes that each government will have its own response to the Belarus -backed Russian invasion of Ukraine and that British tennis has banned players from these countries.
“Separately,” he stressed, “ITF ranking points will only be retained in UK-based LTA tournaments on the ITF World Tennis Tour, Juniors, Wheelchair and Seniors international tours if there are satisfactory alternative equivalent opportunities elsewhere. Country”.
Source: agencies
Source: Clarin
