The war in Ukraine started by Russia’s aggression is a new reality. It lasts for more than two months and the end is not on the sight.
The shocked world accepted the new reality and moves on. The tennis world is not an exemption.
Tournaments are played, trophies are awarded, and ranking is calculated. After the tennis organization’s initial reaction and removing country flags from Russian and Belarusian players, and canceling tournaments in Russia for the rest of the season, we are at business as usual
However, some organizers do not want to accept that the war in Europe and Russian aggression are the new norms. Wimbledon makes it official that it will decline all entries of Russian and Belarusian players.
Loading ...Is that right?
I think, yes. Of course, Russian tennis players are not invading Ukraine. However, they need to carry the burden of it. As in 1942, nobody would invite the German sports team to play in the UK, the same should be applied now.
How will ATP and WTA react?
ATP and WTA are considering that there will be no points awarded to the respective ranking for Wimbledon 2022. Of course, that is their right, but I would not do it. They did not do the same when Djokovic was denied the entry to Australian Open because of the Australian decision of barring unvaccinated players to enter the country.
Update 21/05:
The ATP and WTA announced that they will not award ranking points for the Wimbledon 2022. Points awarded for last year’s Wimbledon will not be frozen.
Will Wimbledon’s image suffer?
Not at all.
Wimbledon is so a special tournament that it will be followed by fans even without Medvedev, Rublev, or Azarenka. There is not a player that is bigger than Wimbledon itself.
Just rewind to 1973 when 81 ATP players including defending champion boycotted the tournament due to the ban for Nikola Pilic. The Wimbledon attendance that year was the second-highest in its history to that date. And the winner, Jan Kodes, has the same place in the history of the tournament as all others.
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