ATP and WTA have stripped Wimbledon of ranking after the tournament banned Russian and Belarusian players from participating
The controversy surrounding this year’s Wimbledon doesn’t seem to stop anytime soon with Jelena Ostapenko becoming the latest tennis player to reveal the possibility of skipping the tournament.
Wimbledon has banned players from Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion of Ukraine even though they are allowed to continue competing at other tournaments under a neutral banner. “In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players”, the All England Club had earlier announced.
The ATP and WTA, who run the professional tours, reacted to the decision by stripping the event of ranking points which has put players in dilemma – whether to play at the prestigious tournament or skip it.
“I mean, if there are no points, I’m not really sure what I’m gonna do. I still want to focus on this tournament and after, I want to see. It’s a little bit unfair to play the tournament when there are no points, you can win the tournament and then you don’t move one spot up in the rankings”, said Ostapenko, echoing similar sentiments like other tennis stars.
How have the other players reacted to the development?
Players have mostly echoed similar voices over the incident. Most of them are unsure – whether to go ahead and play the tournament or skip it.
Former world number one Naomi Osaka said she is considering not playing Wimbledon if there are no ranking points. “I’m leaning more towards not playing given the current circumstances. I’m the type of player that gets motivated by seeing my ranking go up,” said the four-time major winner.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic “intends to go” although he insisted Monday that the decision to ban players was a “mistake” and that other options were available. He says the impasse is a “lose-lose situation”
American star, John Isner said – “Right now, truthfully, I’m not that stoked about Wimbledon. I might just show up on Saturday and maybe I will play Monday and see what happens.”
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