Shapovalov slams Wimbledon, ATP decisions
PARIS — Denis Shapovalov is against the Wimbledon ban on Russian and Belarusian players, but he also disagrees with tennis' governing bodies' decision to strip the grass court Grand Slam of ranking points, the Canadian world No. 15 said on Tuesday.
The men's ATP and women's WTA last week took away ranking points from Wimbledon after its organizers decided to exclude players from Russia and Belarus in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Ranking points determine a player's ability to enter tennis events and receive seedings, so stripping them from Wimbledon effectively reduces the event to an exhibition tournament.
Shapovalov, whose mother is from Ukraine and whose father is from Russia, reached the semifinals at Wimbledon last year.
He will be one of many players to be impacted by their inability to defend the points they earned last year at Wimbledon and will drop down the rankings.
“I don't agree with either,” the 23-year-old former world No. 10 told. “I think first of all, if you have a pro competition, everybody should be competing.
“I completely understand the politics and the situation they're in. But again, if you have a tennis tournament that's supposed to have the best athletes in the world, it shouldn't matter where you're from.
“I also don't agree with the ATP to take out all the points. The most guys it's affecting are the guys in the top rankings.”
Japan's four-time major champion Naomi Osaka said on Monday that she was “not 100 per cent sure” of playing Wimbledon without the ranking points.
Shapovalov said most of the players were not consulted before the decision and wished the ATP had not taken all points away from the tournament.
“It's difficult. I think they could have gone with it a different way, maybe keep 50 per cent like they have in the past or some kind of fairness,” he said.
“It's difficult for the players when you don't have a chance to defend and especially on a surface like grass where it (the season) is already so short and the players that play well on that surface they don't have that many opportunities to make points, so you take a huge chunk of it out, it's super difficult for players.”
■ ■ ■ On the court, Shapovalov had a bad day, falling to Danish teenager Holger Rune in his opening round match.
Rune prevailed in the third set tiebreak to claim his first Grand Slam victory with a 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (4) demolition of Shapovalov, who made 53 unforced errors in the twohour match.
■ ■ ■ An emotional Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ended his 18-year professional career with a 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (0) opening-round loss at his home Grand Slam to Casper Ruud at a packed Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Tsonga, alongside his family and former coaches took centre stage for a ceremony to commemorate his career, with Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic among those paying tribute to the Frenchman via video messages.
■ ■ ■ Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev survived a first-set scare to move past Kwon Soon-woo 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
■ ■ ■ American Sebastian Korda wrapped up a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (6) victory over John Millman to book his spot in the second round where he will take on local favourite Richard Gasquet, who rolled back the years against Lloyd Harris to win 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.
■ ■ ■ On the women's side, former World No. 1 Angelique Kerber's quest to win a career Grand Slam stayed alive with a dramatic three-set victory over Magdalena Frech of Poland.
Kerber, the No. 21 seed, came from a set down and fought off two match points to prevail 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
■ ■ ■ Third seed Paula Badosa made quick work of French wild card Fiona Ferro by winning 6-2, 6-0 in just 54 minutes to book a spot in the second round.
The win boosted her confidence following a dip in form earlier this month. The Spaniard had cited mental fatigue as one of the reasons for early exits in Rome and Madrid this month.
■ ■ ■ Karolina Pliskova, seeded eighth, beat home hope Tessah Andrianjafitrimo 2-6, 6-3, 6-1, while 16th seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan beat Arantxa Rus 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.
■ ■ ■ American Madison Keys came back from a break down in the deciding set to close out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Anna Kalinskaya.
She will play home favourite Caroline Garcia, who beat Taylor Townsend in straight sets, for a place in the third round.