Tour chiefs fight back over Russia, Belarus ban
PARIS: Wimbledon, widely regarded as the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament, was stripped of ranking points on Friday by the sport’s main tours in a move which threatens to reduce the Grand Slam to the status of a high-profile exhibition event.
The decision by the ATP and WTA was in response to Wimbledon banning Russian and Belarusian players following the invasion of Ukraine.
“It is with great regret and reluctance that we see no option but to remove ATP Ranking points from Wimbledon for 2022,” said an ATP statement.
“Our rules and agreements exist in order to protect the rights of players as a whole. Unilateral decisions of this nature, if unaddressed, set a damaging precedent for the rest of the Tour. Discrimination by individual tournaments is simply not viable.”
When world number one Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon in 2021, he earned 2,000 points.
Wimbledon chiefs at the
All England Club branded the move by the ATP and WTA as ‘disproportionate’.
The WTA, which operates the women’s tour, joined their male colleagues in withholding points for the tournament which starts on June 27.
Wimbledon’s ban has ruled out a swathe of top players, including men’s world number two Daniil Medvedev and last year’s women’s semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus as well as two-time major winner Victoria Azarenka.
The ATP, however, hinted at a resolution to the impasse.
“We remain hopeful of further discussions with Wimbledon leading to an acceptable outcome for all concerned.”
WTA chief executive Steve Simon said that his organisation believed “that individual athletes participating in an individual sport should not be penalised solely because of their nationalities or the decisions made by the governments of their countries.”
“As a result of the All England Tennis Club’s position that it will not honour its obligation to use the WTA Rankings for entry into Wimbledon, and proceed with a partial field not based on merit, the WTA has made the difficult decision to not award ranking points for this year’s Wimbledon,” he added.