New Delhi: Officials of one of the four prestigious Grand Slam tournaments, the 2022 Wimbledon, announced a decision on Wednesday to bar players from Russia and Belarus, the tournament’s organizers said in a statement.
“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 statement from the Wimbledon organizing committee reads.
“It is, therefore, our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to The Championships 2022,” the statement added.
A possible move to bar tennis players from Russia and Belarus from 2022 Wimbledon was voiced early on Wednesday by the US media. One of this year’s four Grand Slam tournaments is scheduled to run between June 27 and July 10.
Russia intended to line up for the 2022 Wimbledon, World’s No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev (ATP’s No. 8), Karen Khachanov (ATP’s No. 26), Aslan Karatsev (ATP’s No. 30) in the men’s competitions, as well as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (WTA’s No. 15), Daria Kasatkina (WTA’s No. 26), Veronika Kudermetova (WTA’s No. 29), Lyudmila Samsonova (WTA’s No. 31), Yekaterina Alexandrova (WTA’s No. 39) in ladies’ competitions.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations and also canceled all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in these countries.
On March 14, the ITF also confirmed its ban in regard to the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
The Women Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments but under a neutral status.
(Vinayak)