2022 Wimbledon possibly reduced to an exhibition event by ATP & WTA chiefs
Madrid has been the capital of tennis in every sense this past few days due to the ATP & WTA events taking place there but there have also been meetings regarding the Wimbledon situation.
A couple of weeks ago, Wimbledon and the LTA unilaterally made the decision to ban Russian and Belarussian players from their events. The reason was Russia's invasion of Ukraine and while the decision received a lot of negative responses from other tennis players the majority of them remained silent on the matter.
Both tours (ATP & WTA) heavily criticized the decision promising counter-measures. ATP and WTA chiefs have been reportedly holding meetings in Madrid this week to discuss turning Wimbledon into an 'exhibition event' this summer with no ranking points on offer due to their ban of Russian and Belarusian players. It's an interesting proposition and one that would make major repercussions on the Tour but it's unlikely that it would incite the majority of players to boycott the event.
Opinions of the players that have decided to speak out really differ. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Elina Svitolina or Alexander Bublik are among those that shared their opinion on the situation.
"Let's see if we can take some kind of decision on this," Nadal said. "It's very unfair to my colleagues, they aren't to blame for what is happening with the war. I feel sorry for them and I wish it wasn't like this. In the end, we know that this is what it is. When the government puts measures in place, we have to follow them."
Current world number 1, Novak Djokovic shares Nadal's opinion about the Wimbledon ban, when he said earlier:
"I will always condemn war, I will never support war being myself a child of war. I know how much emotional trauma it leaves. 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."
Alexander Bublik, Dayana Yastremska and Elina Svitolina who all defended the decision, respectively said:
“I don't want to judge whether it's right or wrong, but I'll be happy to tell you what I think about it. It is a decision of the government and the organisers. You have the right to do so. For me, sport is also a distraction from normal life, if you will - and no sport should be mixed up too much with politics," said Bublik.
"How would I be able to play against those players at the tournament when all the world is talking about the war that is being fought against Ukraine? So I think the decision they are making is right. I think the decision they made is very respectful, they did the right thing. What they’ve done for Ukraine is the right thing. Other players are supporting it as well," said Yastremska.
“We don’t want them banned completely,” Svitolina said on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast. “If players don’t speak out against the Russian government then it is the right thing to ban them. 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, they didn’t vote for this government, then it’s fair they should be allowed to play and compete.”
It remains to be seen what the final decision will be. Stay tuned!
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