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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Photo:
Aurelien Morissard / imago images / IP3press
Wimbledon organizers decided on Wednesday to exclude players like top Russian player Daniil Medvedev and last year's Belarusian semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka because of Russia's attack on Ukraine.
The ATP players' association sharply criticized the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian tennis players from the Grand Slam tournament.
The decision was "unfair" and had "the potential to set a damaging precedent," said the organization responsible for men's tournaments.
There was initially no reaction from the WTA women's association.
The ATP positioned itself all the more clearly: "Discrimination based on nationality means a violation of our agreement with Wimbledon, according to which the participation of players is based solely on the ATP ranking list," said the players' association.
Wimbledon has not banned athletes from other countries since World War II, when players from Germany and Japan were not allowed to compete.
The ATP also emphasized that players from Russia and Belarus can continue to participate in tournaments under a neutral flag.
"So far, this position has also been shared by all professional tennis," the statement said.
The ATP condemns the Russian invasion "strongly" and stands "in solidarity with the millions of innocent people affected by the war."
In addition to Medvedev, Andrej Rublew, Karen Khachanov and Arslan Karazew should not take part in the top 30 men.
There are six women in the top 40, including the world number 15.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who publicly opposed the invasion.
The Russian had already announced at the end of February: "I just can't publicly agree with the decisions made and speak about them openly.
Stop the violence, stop the war.«
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