Wimbledon defends ‘agonizing decision’ to ban Russian players
Two All England Club officials defended during a news conference Tuesday the “intensely tough and agonizing decision” to bar players from Russia and Belarus from Wimbledon this year because of the invasion of Ukraine.
Citing the club’s “responsibility to play our part in limiting the possibility of Wimbledon being used to justify the harm being done to others by the Russian regime,” Chief Executive Sally Bolton said, “we believe that this decision is the only viable option for Wimbledon.”
As much as Bolton and All England Chairman Ian Hewitt touted Wimbledon’s return to “normal” this year — a word they used repeatedly, mainly with regard to COVID-19, during a briefing about a tournament that begins June 27 — the questions and answers about the historic Russia policy dominated Tuesday’s session with the media.
The WTA and ATP tennis tours publicly criticized the All England Club’s decision and reportedly have considered threatening to not award rankings points for Wimbledon. Bolton would not directly address that possibility, but she said there are discussions with the tours “on a day-to-day basis at this point.”
NADAL TO PLAY IN MADRID AFTER RECOVERING FROM RIB INJURY »
Rafael Nadal will play the Madrid Open
after recovering from a rib injury that sidelined him for a month.
Nadal had been recovering from a stress fracture he sustained while playing at Indian Wells in March.
Soccer CITY TOPS MADRID 4-3 IN BREATHLESS 1ST LEG »
Manchester City just couldn’t shake off Real Madrid.
In a wild Champions League match, City beat Madrid 4-3 in the first leg of the semifinals but will leave Etihad Stadium wondering how the record 13-time champions were still in it.
Ultimately, Karim Benzema’s
penalty in the 82nd minute saw Madrid escape with some hope of pulling off a comeback in next week’s second leg at Santiago Bernabeu.
Pro basketball
COUSINS FINED $15K FOR KICKING TOWELS INTO STANDS » Nuggets center DeMarcus Cousins has been fined $15,000 for kicking towels into the stands during Game 4 of Denver’s firstround playoff series against Golden State, the NBA announced.
The incident occurred when Cousins returned to the bench after getting
called for a personal foul with 7:27 remaining in the second quarter of the Nuggets’ 126-121 home victory on Sunday.
Baseball JIMÉNEZ HAS SURGERY TO REPAIR TORN TENDON »
The Chicago White Sox are sticking with a six-to-eight week timeline for Eloy Jiménez after the outfielder had surgery Monday morning to repair a torn hamstring tendon behind his right knee.
Jiménez got hurt during Saturday’s 9-2 loss at Minnesota when he stretched for first base while running out a grounder to third.