This could be a major announcement for world tennis.
According to the New York Times, citing an unnamed source highly placed in world tennis, Wimbledon could ban Russian and Belarusian players from the competition due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, supported by Belarus.
If the information is confirmed, the British Grand Slam tournament would become the first individual tournament to take such measures in the world of tennis.
The announcement could be made shortly.
This decision would effectively exclude many major players from the ATP and WTA circuits.
Four Russians are ranked in the men's top 30: Aslan Karatsev, 30th, Karen Kachanov, 26th, Andrey Rublev, 8th, and especially Daniil Medvedev, world No. 2 and contender for the final victory of the tournament.
The 26-year-old Russian won the US Open last September by beating Novak Djokovic in three sets.
On the female side too, the table would be turned upside down.
In the top 30, the seeds, we find the Russians Veronika Kudermetova, 29th, Daria Kasatkina, 26th and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 15th.
Two Belarusians are also part of the ranking: the former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, now ranked 18th, and the 4th in the WTA ranking, Aryna Sabalenka.
Wimbledon officials were set to announce they would bar Russian and Belarusian players from playing in this year's tournament because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Belarus' support of the war.
https://t.co/kLL4S7xaTo
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 20, 2022
The team competitions, the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup (formerly Fed Cup), had already taken measures to exclude teams from these two countries, as of the invasion of Ukraine in February.
The tournaments which were to be played in Belarus and Russia have been canceled.
But players from these countries had previously been allowed to participate under a neutral banner, without mention of their country or their flags.
Several Ukrainian athletes have spoken out in recent weeks in favor of this ban, such as the young rising star of Ukrainian tennis Marta Kostyuk or the captain of the Ukraine Billie Jean King Cup team, Olga Savchuk.
“I don't make the decisions, but I think they should also be banned from playing individually.
It cannot be a sanction against 90% of Russians and 10% no”, declared Olga Savchuk in particular.
