The All England Club has made a decision to decline entries of Russian and Belarusian players for the 2022 Wimbledon.
Russian and Belarusian players won't be able to compete at the 2022 Wimbledon as the All England Club and the Committee of Management of The Championships have decided to decline all their entries.
Moreover, they encourage LTA to do the same for all the events played in the United Kingdom during the summer. That could mean that the athletes from these countries wouldn't be able to compete at any ATP, WTA, or even ITF tournament.
Ian Hewitt, Chairman of the All England Club, commented on the situation, saying that they do not want Wimbledon to be used to "promote the Russian regime."
"We recognise that this is hard on the individuals affected, and it is with sadness that they will suffer for the actions of the leaders of the Russian regime."
"We have very carefully considered the alternative measures that might be taken within the UK Government guidance but, given the high profile environment of The Championships, the importance of not allowing sport to be used to promote the Russian regime and our broader concerns for public and player (including family) safety, we do not believe it is viable to proceed on any other basis at The Championships.”
This means that in total 13 Russian athletes will miss out on the Wimbledon's main draw and many more won't be able to join the qualifying. Russians would currently have eight seeded players - 4 in the ATP draw and 4 in the WTA draw.
This includes one of the biggest challengers for the title, Daniil Medvedev, who lifted his first Grand Slam trophy at the 2021 US Open. However, the ban will also exclude players like Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, and Aslan Karatsev.
In the women's competition, nine players were eligible to join the draw, with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Daria Kasatkina, Veronika Kudermetova, Ludmilla Samsonova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Varvara Gracheva, Anna Kalinskaya, Kamillla Rakhimova, and Vera Zvonareva.
0 Comments