The Wimbledon tournament, the king of grass, is facing one of the biggest threats in its entire history, after both the ATP and the WTF have announced that they will not award points to the players of this grand slam, in response to his ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players. A measure that could make the oldest grand slam in the tournament - it has been played since 1877 - the best paid friendly in the world.
This was stated this Friday by the Association of Professional Tennis Players (ATP), the body responsible for the men's tennis circuit, a decision supported by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). Both associations will apply the same measure to their competitions.
The ATP justifies its decision in defense of the possibility for players, regardless of their nationality, "to participate in tournaments based on merit and without discrimination," as explained in a statement. The ban on playing Russians and Belarusians "undermines this principle" and "is not feasible on a circuit that operates in more than 30 countries." Similar arguments are raised by the WTF, which believes that individual athletes should not be penalized "for belonging to a country or for decisions made by the governments of their countries."
The ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players was announced last April, in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian army troops in February this year. The measure was in tune with similar measures taken in other tournaments, such as the Qatar World Cup or the Davis Cup, and had already been applied in other British tennis tournaments such as Queen's, in the 500 category, or Eastbourne. , of 250. The decision also responded to the British government's call to prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in competitions if they did not publicly deny Vladimir Putin first.
And if the Kremlin protested at the time Wimbledon's decision to veto its players, now it is the London tournament that cries out to heaven for a sanction that they consider "disproportionate." The organization of the British grand slam considers that the measure taken by them is the "only viable decision", given the position of the British government, and affirms in a statement that it will maintain it.
The ATP had offered as an alternative that Russian and Belarusian tennis players participate individually under a neutral flag, as has happened in the last Olympic Games in Beijing, but the president of the All England Club, Ian Hewitt, rejected the proposal considering that this option could have sparked retaliation against the players and their families.
It is the first time that Wimbledon has prevented people from a certain country from participating in the tournament since the years after World War II, when Germans and Japanese were unable to compete on the courts of the All England Club.
The tournament, which elevated Novak Djokovic as champion in 2021, will be held this year from June 27 to July 10, and will deliver 1,700,000 pounds (2 million euros) to the male and female winners, an amount to which In principle, 2,000 points should be added, which will become 0 if, as announced, the most traditional tennis tournament on the calendar does not rectify.
Among the tennis players affected by the ban are the US Open winner and number 2 in the ATP, the Russian Daniil Medvedev, and his compatriot Andrey Rublev, number 7 in the ranking. In the women's draw, the number 7, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, Wimbledon semifinalist last year, and the former number 1Victoria Azarenka, also Belarusian, who has two Australian Opens in her record, would miss out.
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