How different will Wimbledon look with no Russians or Belarusians? Fans call for slam boycott

Wimbledon shocked the tennis world with its Russian and Belarusian player ban, prompting complaints among the players and statements from the WTA and the ATP condemning the move.

The All England Lawn and Tennis Club (AELTC)—which runs the Wimbledon Championships— and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) elected to outright ban all Russian and Belarusian players from the grass grand slam season due to Vladimir Putin’s Russian invasion of Ukraine. The dramatic move taken by the AELTC is a much more serious step than other organizations within the sport have taken.

Russian and Belarusian players are already banned from representing their countries or displaying their flags if they want to compete. Many have viewed that current arrangement as a perfectly working solution. All the notable players from Russia and Belarus have already voiced their opinions condemning the war, including world No. 8 Andrey Rublev, who wrote “No war, please” on an on-court camera at an earlier tournament this year.

“The reasons they gave us had no sense, they were not logical,” said Rublev, according to the BBC. “What is happening now is complete discrimination against us.”

Why should someone who is clearly disturbed by the war (like much of the world) be penalized?

Rublev would join world No. 2 and reigning U.S. Open champion, Daniil Medvedev, in having to sit out the tournament. As the last man to beat legend Novak Djokovic in a slam, Medvedev has an excellent chance of winning at Wimbledon.

https://twitter.com/JSLayton1992/status/1517054737929195520

Some say the All England Club’s brash decision was done to protect the royal family (and to avoid a bad PR image of say Kate Middleton handing the trophy to a Russian athlete), which seems extremely silly to me.

The draconian move by Wimbledon organizers prompted the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) to issue corresponding statements of condemnation.

“We are, however, very disappointed in today’s announcement by the AELTC and the LTA to ban individual athletes who are from Russia and Belarus from competing in the upcoming UK grass-court events,” the WTA’s statement read, according to Sports Illustrated. “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.”

“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,” the ATP statement added. “Discrimination based on nationality also constitutes a violation of our agreement with Wimbledon that states that player entry is based solely on ATP Rankings.”

In addition to two of the Top 10 on the men’s side, the ban also means that world No. 4 Aryna Sabalenka—a 2021 semifinalist— also won’t be allowed to play, a shocking loss on the women’s side. Affected also are six others in the WTA top 32, including No. 15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, No. 18 Victoria Azarenka, No. 26 Daria Kasatkina, No. 29 Veronika Kudermetova and No. 31 Liudmila Samsonova. This would gut the women’s draw. World No. 26 Karen Khachanov and No. 30 Aslan Karatsev in the ATP wouldn’t be allowed to compete as well.

“This decision was made in a vacuum by the All England Club,” said nine-time Wimbledon singles champion Martina Navratilova via The Washington Post. “I don’t think they are seeing the big picture in a more global way.”

The ban includes other tournaments The LTA manages. It is also guaranteed to bring on lawsuits from the Russian and Belarusian tennis associations. Fans have said they will boycott Wimbledon. Others say it sets a ‘damaging precedent.’ Whatever you call it, it certainly is a sad day for tennis.