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La Jornada – “Unfair” to exclude Russian and Belarusian tennis players at Wimbledon: Nadal

Madrid. Rafael Nadal described this Sunday as “unfair” the decision to exclude Russian and Belarusian tennis players from Wimbledon.

The Spaniard, winner of 21 Grand Slam titles, believes the All England Club chose “the most drastic option”.

Wimbledon was widely criticized by the ATP and WTA, as well as by stars like Nadal and Novak Djokovic, for penalizing tennis players due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This exclusion leaves great rackets, such as the Russian, No. 2 in the world, Daniil Medvedev, as well as the Wimbledon semifinalist last year, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, unable to participate in the Grand Slam on the London grass.

“It’s unfair to my teammates,” Nadal said. “They are not to blame for what is happening with the war.”

“I feel sorry for them. I wish it wasn’t like that, but in the end we know that this is what it is,” added the Mallorcan tennis player.

Nadal, who returns to the competition after six weeks out due to a rib injury, trusts the involvement of the tennis world so that there is a reverse gear in the decision made by Wimbledon.

“When a government puts in place some measures you have to follow them, in this case the government made a recommendation, and Wimbledon decided to impose the most drastic option without being forced to take it,” he said.

Novak Djokovic, who had described the decision as “crazy”, declared this Sunday that he maintains his position. “I think it’s unfair,” reaffirmed the world No. 1.

The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, world number five and runner-up last year at Roland Garros, also spoke about this issue, aligning himself with the position of Nadal and Djokovic.

“They haven’t done anything wrong to be automatically excluded from that tournament,” said the Greek player, referring to his Russian and Belarusian rivals.

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