Tennis community “disappointed” by “damaging” decision to bar Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon

Russian and Belarusian players are set to be absent from Wimbledon following a decision made by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC). However, the AELTC’s decision has been met with much criticism by top tennis organizations and players.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) stated they were “very disappointed” by the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players.

A statement from the organization read, “a fundamental principal of the WTA is that individual athletes may participate in professional tennis events based on merit and without any form of discrimination. That principle is expressly set forth in our rules and has been agreed to by both AELTC and LTA.”

“As the WTA has consistently stated, individual athletes should not be penalized or prevented from competing due to where they are from, or the decisions made by the governments of their countries.”

The AELTC initiated their ban on Russian and Belarusian players in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The club argued, “in the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships.”

In their statement, the WTA maintained, “discrimination, and the decision to focus such discrimination against athletes competing on their own as individuals, is neither fair nor justified.”

“The WTA will continue to apply its rules to reject discrimination and ensure that all athletes are able to compete at our Tour events should they qualify to do so, a position that until today’s announcement has been shared across professional tennis.”

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the organization that oversees men’s professional tennis, joined the WTA in criticizing the AELTC’s decision.

“Our sport is proud to operate on the fundamental principles of merit and fairness, where players compete as individuals to earn their place in tournaments based on the ATP Rankings,” stated the men’s tennis body.

“We believe that today’s unilateral decision by Wimbledon and the LTA to exclude players from Russia and Belarus from this year’s British grass-court swing is unfair and has the potential to set a damaging precedent for the game.”

High ranking athletes, from both the men’s and women’s side of the sport, are set to miss the storied tournament and associated events as a consequence of the AELTC’s decision.

Two large absences from the men’s tournament will be world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev and world No. 8 Andrey Rublev. Rublev gained international attention in the early stages of the invasion when he wrote “No War Please” on a television camera, while Medvedev asked for “peace in the world,” and “for peace between countries” on Twitter shortly after the invasion began.

An excerpt of the ATP’s statement on the decision read, “discrimination based on nationality also constitutes a violation of our agreement with Wimbledon that states that player entry is based solely on ATP Rankings. Any course of action in response to this decision will now be assessed in consultation with our Board and Member councils.”

It remains unclear what actions the WTA or ATP could pursue in response to the AELTC’s decision. However, the decision has already garnered mixed reactions from players…

Ukrainian athlete Elina Svitolina, ranked world no. 25 in women’s tennis, told the BBC, “we don’t want them banned completely. If players don’t speak out against the Russian government then it is the right thing to ban them.”

She added, “we just want them to speak up, if they are with us and the rest of the world or the Russian government. This is for me the main point. If they didn’t choose, didn’t vote for this government, then it’s fair they should be allowed to play and compete.”

Men’s world no. 1 Novak Djokovic, who faced exclusion from this year’s Australian Open due to his COVID-19 vaccination status, offered his views on the decision to reporters at the Serbia Open. He commented, “I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war.”

“I know how much emotional trauma it leaves,” continued the Serbian player. “In Serbia we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans we have had many wars in recent history.”

“However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon, I think it is crazy. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good.”

Djokovic’s views were not shared by former Ukrainian tennis player Alexandr Dolgopolov, who voiced his support of the ban on Twitter, stating, “any sport or business or really anything should take the same stance. Until Russian people stand up and stop their bloody leader and all these war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

He added, “Wimbledon and U.K. showing leadership, to stop all this madness.”

The path ahead is unclear for tennis, but like the experiences of other international sports, it’s clear the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the response of sporting bodies is subject to controversy, debate, and friction.

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