Wimbledon lifts ban on players from Russia and Belarus

Tennis players from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to compete at Wimbledon this summer after tournament officials reversed a policy that banned them in the months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

The decision to exclude the players had drawn criticism at the time, even within tennis, and its reversal had been expected. Wimbledon officials justified their decision in a statement saying that enforcing the policy “harmful” to the tournament, the most prestigious in sport, and to tennis itself.

The biggest beneficiaries of the move are Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who won the Australian Open in January and is second in the world rankings, and Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, who is fifth in the men’s ranking.

Medvedev said he had been watching developments closely over the past week as word spread that the ban would be lifted, and was delighted to see the news this morning.

“I’ve always said I love this tournament,” said Medvedev, even though it’s the only Grand Slam where he hasn’t reached the quarterfinals. “Nice tournament. Nice grand slam. I’m very happy to be able to play this year.”

To qualify under the new Wimbledon rules, players from Russia and Belarus must compete as “neutral athletes”, without anthems, flags or other nationalistic trappings, and must not express support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sponsorship by state-owned companies is also prohibited.

Many sports moved quickly to make Russia and Belarus sports pariahs as punishment for their country’s role in the invasion of Ukraine, but Wimbledon last year was the only tennis Grand Slam event to ban players without conditions. While support for Ukraine is widespread in tennis, the ban on Wimbledon – a joint move with Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association, which controls the sport there – has been roundly criticized across the sport as setting a troubling precedent.

In a statement released Friday, Ian Hewitt, the president of the All England Club, said the organization continues to condemn the invasion and support the people of Ukraine.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision, not taken lightly or with little regard for those who will be affected by it,” Hewitt said. “We believe that, taking all factors into consideration, these are the most appropriate arrangements for The Championships for this year.”

Hewitt said the club would reconsider the position if conditions changed for the tournament, which begins on July 3.

Like most Olympic sports, tennis united to ban the national symbols of Russia and Belarus and to ban those countries from participating in team competitions.

However, only Wimbledon and the LTA banned players from taking part in their events, a move strongly supported by the UK Parliament.

The men’s and women’s professional tours, the ATP and the WTA penalized Wimbledon by choosing not to award ranking points for victories in the tournament. The move was an attempt to turn the event into an exhibition of sorts, but it also hurt the tours and several top players, including Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina, as the rankings failed to accurately reflect performance over the past 12 months.

Moreover, a born and raised Russian won the tournament anyway, as Rybakina, who was born and raised in Russia, but started playing for Kazakhstan at the age of 18, won the women’s singles title.

In a joint statement on Friday, the ATP and WTA, who represent the players and the tournaments, said they are “thrilled that all players will have the opportunity to compete at Wimbledon and LTA events this summer. It has taken a concerted effort from the entire sport to come up with a workable solution that protects the fairness of the game.” The tours also reiterated their “unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s war against Ukraine”.

The decision has its detractors, including some prominent players. Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, said the players from Russia and Belarus should not be allowed into Wimbledon or the Olympics. “I’m on the Ukrainian side,” Kvitova said on Friday after her semi-final victory over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

Players from Russia and Belarus expressed their disappointment with the decision last year, but did not challenge it at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

In recent months, many top players, including Djokovic, have condemned the war, but also said that players from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to play, although Russia’s Daria Kasatkina has so far been the only player from Russia or Belarus to openly criticize on the war. the war, which she did in a video posted last summer. Andrey Rublev, another Russian, appeared in the video and said he agreed with her statements, although he was not openly critical himself.

Sabalenka said in Australia that if there was anything she could have done to change what was happening in Ukraine, she would have done it. Victoria Azarenka, who is also from Belarus and a member of the WTA Tour’s Players’ Council, offered to participate in a fundraising exhibition for victims of the war in Ukraine ahead of the US Open, although players from Ukraine eventually asked that she doesn’t participate.

Players from Ukraine have been forced to leave their country. Several, including Lesia Tsurenko and Dayana Yastremska, have lobbied to ban players from Russia and Belarus from participating in professional tournaments unless they speak out against the war.

There has been little contact between players from Ukraine and Russia and Belarus over the past year, though Kasatkina said she received several thank yous from players from Ukraine after she posted her video.

The All England Club’s move came just days after the International Olympic Committee announced it would push for athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Explaining the decision, Thomas Bach quoted, the president of the IOC, tennis as showing how players from those countries could compete undisturbed even against players from Ukraine.

Players from Russia have continued to excel in the game. On Friday afternoon, Medvedev defeated compatriot Karen Khachanov in the semifinals of the Miami Open, one of the biggest tournaments of the year outside of the Grand Slams, to advance to the final against either Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner on Sunday. Rybakina will play in the women’s final on Saturday.

After losing to Medvedev, Khachanov said he hadn’t looked at his phone all morning and only learned after the match that he could play at Wimbledon.

“All Russian and Belarusian players, we have said before that we would really like to play there,” said Khachanov, who reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2021. “I am in the Last 8 Club, and it is really great and special event in tennis history.”