Andrey Rublev is against the exclusion of the Russians from Wimbledon

Russian Andrey Rublev, world No.8, said Thursday that the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players from the next Wimbledon tournament because of the conflict in Ukraine was “totally discriminatory”.

«The reasons they (Wimbledon, editor’s note) gave us had, how to say, no sense, they were not logical“, he said on the sidelines of the ATP 250 tournament in Belgrade. “What is happening now is totally discriminatory against us“, he continued. “Giving tournament prizes to humanitarian aid, to families who are suffering, to children who are suffering, that’s something that would have a little impact.“, he continued: “In this case, tennis would be the only sport to give away such an amount, and it would be thanks to Wimbledon, who would get all the glory.».

Djokovic does not understand this decision

The organizers of the Major on grass announced on Wednesday the exclusion from the 2022 edition of the tournament of Russian and Belarusian players due to the war in Ukraine, a decision strongly contested by the ATP and the WTA. “Under the circumstances of unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefit from the participation of Russian or Belarusian players.“, justified the British Grand Slam tournament.

The four Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and US Open) are independent of the men’s and women’s circuits, where Russians and Belarusians are still allowed to participate in the tournaments, under a neutral banner.

Moreover, the ATP described the decision taken by Wimbledon as “unfair”, especially as it extends to all the grass-court tournaments this summer in Great Britain, in particular Queen’s and Eastbourne, which are under the aegis of the ATP. The WTA has also declared itself “very disapointed» of the announcement made by Wimbledon that she considers «neither fair nor justified“. For his part, the world No.1 Novak Djokovic described the decision of the Wimbledon tournament as “many“, while stating that he “would always condemn war, being himself a child of warafter his first match Wednesday at the Belgrade tournament.