As expected, Russian and Belarusian tennis players who were expelled due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine are missing. The management of the WTA and ATP punished the organizers for not playing for ranking points this year.
Naomi Osaka of Japan, for example, was considering participating in Wimbledon. However, the 24-year-old four-slam grand slam champion is ultimately on the list of players.
Daniil Medvedev, for example, is not on the starting list due to the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian tennis player can still get to the first place in the rankings after the tournament, because the Serb Novak Djokovic does not have a chance to defend points for last year’s title.
The All England Club will also see the end of an era. For the first time since 1996, none of the Williams sisters will start there, winning a total of 12 titles on the London grass – Serena Seven, Venus Five.
Serena, 40, has not played since injuries in the first round of last year’s Wimbledon. Venus, a year older, last appeared on the WTA circuit at the Chicago tournament in August.
Both can still ask the organizers to start on the so-called wild card, as with the 40-year-old Federer, however, this is unlikely. The eight-time Wimbledon champion, who has not played since being eliminated in last year’s quarterfinals, is recovering from knee surgery.
Wimbledon will start on June 27.
