Rafael Nadal sprach Klartext. © ANSA / Kiko Huesca
The Spanish tennis world star Rafael Nadal has sharply criticized the exclusion of professionals from Russia and Belarus at this year’s Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon.
01. May 2022
From: dpa
The organizers’ decision was “very unfair,” said Nadal on Sunday at a press conference in Madrid ahead of the Masters 1000 tournament in the Spanish capital. World number three Alexander Zverev (25) is the defending champion.
Wimbledon bans tennis pros from Russia and Belarus over Russian invasion of Ukraine Nadal has no understanding of this at all: “It’s very unfair to my colleagues. What can the poor do for it?” said the 35-year-old fourth in the world rankings. The professionals are not to blame “for what is happening”. Before Nadal, Zverev, the Russian Andrej Rublev and the Serb Novak Djokovic, among others, had criticized the measure.
The exclusion also affects the Russian world number two Daniil Medvedev – a rival of Nadal, Djokovic and Zverev in the fight for titles and first place in the world rankings. The organizers of the English lawn classic had recently assured that there was “no viable alternative” due to the requirements of the British government. If professionals from Russia and Belarus were allowed to participate with a declaration against the war, “we would have risked that their success would have been used to the advantage of the Russian regime’s propaganda machine,” said the chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis Club ( AELTC), Ian Hewitt. The third Grand Slam tournament of the year takes place from June 27th to July 10th.
