Wimbledon’s ban of Russia, Belarus players prompts both tours to cut ranking points
The women’s and men’s professional tennis tours will not award ranking points for Wimbledon this year because of the All England Club’s ban on players from Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine.
The WTA and ATP announced their unprecedented decisions Friday night, two days before the start of the French Open — and a little more than a month before play begins at Wimbledon on June 27.
It is a significant rebuke of the sport’s oldest Grand Slam tournament and, in a technical sense, renders the event an exhibition without any ranking points at stake.
The All England Club said in April it would not allow Russians or Belarusians to compete at its grass-court championship, which drew immediate criticism from the WTA and the ATP, along with some prominent players, such as defending champion Novak Djokovic.
Russian athletes have been prevented from competing in many sports, including soccer’s World Cup qualifying playoffs, since the country began attacking Ukraine in February. Belarus has aided Russia in the invasion.
“The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our tour,” the ATP said in a statement. “The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the U.K. this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP ranking system.”
Saying it made this move “with great regret and reluctance,” the ATP added: “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 on a tour that operates in more than 30 countries.”
A statement attributed to WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon and released by that tour Friday said, in part: “Nearly 50 years ago, the WTA was founded on the fundamental principle that all players have an equal opportunity to compete based on merit and without discrimination. The WTA believes that individual athletes participating in an individual sport should not be penalized or prevented from competing solely because of their nationalities or the decisions made by the governments of their countries.”