Ukraine war: Wimbledon bans Russian and Belarusian players from 2022 tournament
- The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which runs Wimbledon, said they were acting to ‘limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible’
- Russian men’s world number two Daniil Medvedev and Belarusian female world number four Aryna Sabalenka are the leading players affected by the ban
Wimbledon has banned Russian and Belarusian players from the 2022 tournament in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which runs Wimbledon, said they were acting to “limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible”.
Russian men’s world number two Daniil Medvedev and Belarusian female world number four Aryna Sabalenka are the leading players affected by the ban.
“In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players,” an AELTC statement said on Wednesday.
“It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to Wimbledon.”
Russia’s Andrey Rublev is currently eighth in the ATP rankings, while his compatriot Karen Khachanov is 26th.
Russian world number 15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus are two of the other top female players who will miss the grass-court grand slam.