Seeing the recent news from Ukraine is “very disturbing” for Daniil Medvedev, referring on Sunday to the war that led Wimbledon organizers to ban him and other Russian tennis players from the tournament.
The US Open champion was speaking from the Geneva Open, where he is returning to action after a five-week absence from the ATP tour due to hernia surgery.
“I had some time to follow what’s going on and yes, it’s very upsetting,” Medvedev said when asked if the conflict in Ukraine has been pending.
Previously, Medvedev had said in February when Russia invaded Ukraine that he was in favor of “everything for peace”.
While most Olympic sports banned Russian teams and athletes from international competition, tennis allowed players to continue as individuals and not as representatives of their country.
Wimbledon organizers went further, announcing three weeks ago, with the support of the UK government, a decision to impose a ban and “limit Russian influence globally through the strongest possible means”.
Wimbledon said that could be reversed “if circumstances materially change” in the war before the start of the tournament on June 27.
In Geneva, Medvedev said he does not know if he is “100% ruled out” for Wimbledon, where he reached the round of 16 last year.
“If he can play, I will be happy to play at Wimbledon, it is a tournament that I love”, said the number two in the ranking.
World number one Novak Djokovic has previously called the Wimbledon ban “crazy” and was asked on Sunday, after winning the Italian Open, whether players should boycott the grass-court Grand Slam.
“Boycotting is a very aggressive thing,” Djokovic said. “There are a few solutions that are better than that and we can target those. But after talking to the players who have been involved in consultations with Wimbledon and it seems there is not much room.
