No world ranking points will be awarded at the legendary Grand Slam tournament for men in Wimbledon this year. The reason for this decision is the exclusion of players from Russia and Belarus because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
At the Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament, no world ranking points are awarded in the men’s competitions. The tennis players’ organization ATP announced this decision as a reaction to the decision of the tournament organizers from London to exclude Russian and Belarusian players from the grass highlight from June 27th to July 10th. There was initially no reaction from the players’ organization WTA.
“The opportunity for players of any nationality to participate in tournaments based on their performance and without discrimination is fundamental to our tour,” said an ATP statement distributed on Friday evening: “The decision to host Wimbledon, Russian and Belarusian players in Banning participation this summer undermines that principle and the integrity of the ATP ranking system.”
The ATP wants to prevent a precedent according to which individual tournaments are allowed to discriminate against certain players through their own decisions. “This is not feasible on a tour that takes place in more than 30 countries,” it said. At the ATP tournaments in Queen’s Club and in Eastbourne in the run-up to Wimbledon, however, points are awarded for the ATP ranking, where players from Russia and Belarus are allowed.
The only Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon organized by a private organization (the national associations are responsible for the other three) had decided in April that players from Russia and Belarus would not be able to participate in the most famous tournament in the world due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine allowed to participate. The measure went well beyond the course of the players’ unions ATP and WTA – at their tournaments the relevant professionals are admitted under a neutral flag.
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