Wimbledon announced on Wednesday that it will prohibit tennis players from Russia and Belarus from competing in the next edition due to the military offensive of the country chaired by Vladimir Putin on Ukraine, in collusion with the latter.
Therefore, players like Daniil Medvedev, who reached number one on February 24, or the prestigious Victoria Azarenka, absent from the courts since March due to "extreme stress", will not be able to play from June 27 to July 10 in the All England Tennis & Croquet Club.
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Azarenka's enigmatic pause
The great British is the first tournament to veto tennis players with these nationalities, who today compete as "neutral athletes" and until now have been able to compete in all the events that have been held since the beginning of the conflict;
yes, by decision of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the ATP and the WTA -these last two, the bodies that govern the men's and women's circuit, respectively-, do so without any flag or national emblem next to their name .
Until this Wednesday, the ITF had executed the most drastic maneuver, by prohibiting players from participating in team competitions.
Consequently, Russia and Belarus will not be able to participate this year in the Davis Cup (men's competition) or the Billie Jean King Cup (women's).
However, until now there was no type of individual veto.
It should be remembered that Russia was proclaimed champion in both tournaments, and that it is one of the strongest nations in the world of tennis today.
Before the London club announced its decision, the English media anticipated the news, although the buzz came from afar.
From the outset, the British government had established a regulation by which Russian and Belarusian athletes have to declare in writing that they condemn the Russian invasion, but Wimbledon has gone further and has definitively opted for exclusion.
A decision that has a direct impact on the representation of both countries.
There are currently four Russian players ranked in the top 30 in the men's category: Medvedev (2nd), Andrey Rublev (8th), Karen Khachanov
(26th) and Aslan Karatsev (30).
In the women's circuit, the Wimbledon veto affects the Belarusians Aryna Sabalenka, semifinalist of the tournament last year and current number four in the world, and Azarenka, who after being eliminated in the second round in Miami announced that she was going to make a "pause indefinite”, after two weeks earlier he broke down in tears during a game in Indian Wells.
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