In April, Wimbledon authorities were the first in the world in tennis to exclude players from Russia and Belarus from this year’s tournament. So far, no one else has followed the path of the English language.
Won’t ATP award points?
The Men’s Tennis Association (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) are protesting the Wimbledon decision. They say this is “unacceptable discrimination based on nationality”. As if it was forgotten that, for example, in 1946 at Wimbledon, players from Japan and Germany did not compete.
Tennis officials threatened to punish the English shortly after Wimbledon announced its decision. Among the possible penalties was the denial of points for tennis players for their performance in London. Days passed and the topic seemed to be dead, but Sports Illustrated says it’s back.
As we’ve heard from the ATP, ranking points are unlikely to be awarded for Wimbledon or the other British turf tournaments. This is a reaction to the ban on Russian players – says John Werthem from an American magazine.
This means that all tennis players who will be competing in this year’s grass events in Great Britain (Queen’s Club June 13-19, Eastbourne June 20-25, Wimbledon June 27-July 10) will not receive points for their performance.
Championship penalty or tennis players?
It is worth asking again, is it really a punishment for the English organizers or for the players themselves? It seems to be an attempt to force tennis players to boycott the events in England without the Russians and Belarusians, as they will by no means get any points. Ben Rothenberg of The New York Times notes that this idea will not be appreciated by players.
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Wertheim also wonders what about the Laver Cup in London this year. Will participants also be deprived of points? The Laver Cup is an international team tournament established in 2016 at the initiative of Roger Federer. These are the competitions of Europe – the rest of the world. The fifth edition of the competition is scheduled to be held in the capital of Great Britain on September 23-25.
Despite criticism from the tennis community (Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King), Wimbledon organizers do not intend to withdraw from the decision to exclude the Russians and Belarusians. In Poland, against their idea, among other things, Wojciech Vibak.
No changes in Rome
In recent days, it has been speculated that players from Russia and Belarus will also not be able to play during the Italian Open in Rome this week. In the end, the Italian government decided not to refuse their entry into the country. There is also no indication that Danio Medvedev or Arina Sabalenka could not perform at the Grand Slam Roland Garros. The event begins in Paris on May 22nd.
At first, the tennis authorities did not react to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A few days later, they suspended the Russian and Belarusian tennis federations. Tennis players from these countries cannot compete under the national flag. These are the only penalties they have faced. For now, they can still compete in the most important tournaments, except for those played in the British Isles this summer.
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