Wimbledon set to ban Russians next year

RUSSIANS are set to be banned from next year’s Wimbledon Championships if Ukraine is still occupied in a move that will further divide tennis. While a final decision will not be made until March — and will be heavily influenced by Government advice — the All England Club are in no mood to back down and view the ATP and WTA as outliers in their willingness to embrace Russian players.

All England Club officials have been heartened by recent soundings from the International Olympic Committee, who are ready to take an early decision to effectively ban Russian athletes from competing at the 2024 Games in Paris by denying them the opportunity to take part in qualifying events that begin next month. Wimbledon’s position is that they are in step with the vast majority of world sport, as well as UK public and Government opinion, which has put them on a collision course with the international tennis authorities.

Both men’s and women’s governing bodies punished Wimbledon by removing world ranking points from this year’s tournament, while the WTA also imposed fines totalling $1million on the All England Club and the Lawn Tennis Association. However, Wimbledon did not suffer any player withdrawals as a result and the Championships were viewed as a success despite being maligned as a mere exhibition event in the build-up.

The All England Club’s robust position was reflected in spiky comments at a posttournament dinner from chairman Ian Hewitt. Hewitt said that the past fortnight had ‘justified Wimbledon’s position at the peak of the game, even if our friends at the ATP and WTA didn’t think that we were worthy of ranking points’.