Stuart Fraser: Anger as Wimbledon bans Russian and Belarusian players in precarious moment for tennis

This is a precarious moment for tennis. Until yesterday the sport’s seven governing bodies — the ATP, the WTA, the ITF and the four grand-slam tournaments — had taken a united stance, allowing Russians and Belarusians to compete as neutral athletes. The All England Club were among the co- signatories of a statement that first confirmed this in early March.

A source close to the club insisted yesterday that this had always been considered the bare minimum, and that they reserved the right to go further on a unilateral basis. After weeks of intense discussions that were described as “complex and challenging”, members of the club’s board and committee could not see any viable option other than a full ban at this year’s championships. Crucially, the LTA agreed to apply the same course of action at all of the warm-up tournaments.

The anger in the corridors of power at the ATP and WTA was clearly evident in the response that followed. Since the invasion of Ukraine began almost two months ago, players from Russia and Belarus have continued to compete on the tour as neutrals, with very few issues. According to sources, some ATP and WTA officials believe that Wimbledon’s decision has muddied the waters and threatened the integrity of the sport.

“Our sport is proud to operate on the fundamental principles of merit and fairness, where players compete as individuals to earn their place in tournaments based on the ATP rankings,” an ATP statement said. “We believe that today’s unilateral decision by Wimbledon and the LTA to exclude players from Russia and Belarus from this year’s British grass-court swing is unfair and has the potential to set a damaging precedent for the game.”

A statement released by the WTA soon after used the term “discrimination” five times.

Both tours vowed to discuss whether action would be taken. Because Wimbledon is organised by a separate governing body at a private members’ club, the only leverage the ATP and WTA would have is to threaten the removal of world ranking points. The LTA, however, is believed to be in a trickier legal position because the warm-up events are under the direct jurisdiction of the tours.

As the political barracking began, the personal impact of such a decision was also becoming apparent. Navratilova, speaking to the Andrew Marr show on LBC radio, struggled to keep her composure as she made clear her opposition to a full ban. The emotions of her own experience in 1975, when she defected to the United States because of the communist regime in her native Czechoslovakia, came flooding back.

“The Russian players and the Belarusian players, some have even expressed and vocalised their opposition to the war, and the only option therefore now for them to play would be to leave their country,” Navratilova said. “That’s something that I had to do because of a totalitarian regime.

“I wish they [the All England Club] had talked to me. Maybe I would provide a slightly different perspective, and maybe I wouldn’t have changed anybody’s mind, but I feel a lot of these decisions are made in a vacuum where they don’t take input from the people affected by this, and find a better solution than this. Exclusion — this is through no fault of these players — is not the way to go.

“As much as I feel for the Ukrainian players and people, of course, it’s just horrific what’s going on, but I think this is just going further than they needed to be going, quite frankly. I think it’s the wrong decision.”

The impact on the Wimbledon field is considerable. While there has been only one Russian singles champion in the tournament’s 145-year history — Maria Sharapova in 2004 — the nation is renowned in tennis for its strength in depth. A total of 12 female top-100 players (including those from Belarus) will be unable to compete, which equates to more than 10 per cent of the main draw entry list.

There is also a knock-on effect for the men’s world No 1 ranking. Daniil Medvedev is close to retaking the top spot from Novak Djokovic but will now be denied the opportunity to earn up to 2,000 points at Wimbledon. There are at least grass-court options elsewhere in Europe for Medvedev during the weeks before, with the Libema Open in the Netherlands confirming his participation with curious timing yesterday.

The early sense among players is that Wimbledon has gone too far. John Millman, the experienced Australian professional, suggested an alternative form of support for Ukraine that would involve a cheque of about £40 million being redirected from the LTA. “I feel like Ukraine would be better served if Wimbledon donated their entire profit in support aid instead of banning the Russian and Belarusian players,” he tweeted.

Who stands to miss out?

The main Wimbledon singles draws generally have the top 100 players in the ATP and WTA rankings qualifying for the grand slam. The ban on Russian and Belarusian players from competing at the All England Club would therefore prohibit a total of 17 players (13 from Russia and four from Belarus) from entering at present. The absentee list could be even longer, depending on where the eventual cut-offs for the main draws are made and if any Russians or Belarusians were to have been awarded wildcards.

RUSSIANS AND BELARUSIANS IN THE ATP TOP 100 (Total: 5; Russia: 4; Belarus: 1)

Daniil Medvedev (Russ, rank: 2)

Andrey Rublev (Russ, 8)

Karen Khachanov (Russ, 26)

Aslan Karatsev (Russ, 30)

Ilya Ivashka (Bela, 44)

RUSSIANS AND BELARUSIANS IN THE WTA TOP 100 (Total: 12; Russia: 9; Belarus: 3)

Aryna Sabalenka (Bela, rank: 4)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russ, 15)

Victoria Azarenka (Bela, 18, right)

Daria Kasatkina (Russ, 26)

Veronika Kudermetova (Russ, 29)

Liudmila Samsonova (Russ, 31)

Ekaterina Alexandrova (Russ, 39)

Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Bela, 50)

Varvara Gracheva (Russ, 73)

Anna Kalinskaya (Russ, 75)

Kamilla Rakhimova (Russ, 95)

Vera Zvonareva (Russ, 100)

MEN’S WINNERS AND FINALISTS

Neither a Russian nor Belarusian player has reached a singles final

WOMEN’S FINALS REACHED BY RUSSIANS OR BELARUSIANS

2004 – Maria Sharapova (Russ) beat Serena Williams (US) 6-1 6-4

2010 – Zvonareva (Russ) lost to Williams (US) 6-3 6-2

2011 – Sharapova (Russ) lost to Petra Kvitova (Cz) 6-3 6-4

– The Times