Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam tournament in 2022 in which Russian and Belarusian tennis players were not allowed to take part. A year later, the situation changed under strong pressure from the ATP and WTA.

Nevertheless, the British would not be British if they did not try to spoil everything with the conditions of admission.

Why did Wimbledon still take pity

The leadership of the ATP and WTA impressed us with adequate actions throughout last season and continues to do so now. They did not remove the Russians and Belarusians, but simply asked to remove the national symbols. Against the backdrop of the general madness, this seemed to be very loyal behavior. Our guys calmly performed everywhere except the UK.

The organizers of Wimbledon (and a number of other tournaments on the island) flatly refused to host athletes from the two countries. For which they were punished for a million dollars, and the WTA and ATP deprived the tournament of rating points. It’s funny that the women’s Wimbledon ended up being won by a native of Moscow, Elena Rybakina, who now represents Kazakhstan.

When the Australian Open-2023 was held without any problems, it became clear that even more powerful pressure would be exerted on Wimbledon. British media wrote that the ATP and WTA had already threatened the organizers with harsh sanctions. Those had to clarify the issue with the British government, which made some concessions and nevertheless bothered to allow Russian and Belarusian tennis players to play at Wimbledon 2023. However, everything turned out to be not so simple.

– At present, we intend to accept applications from Russian and Belarusian players, provided that they act as neutral athletes and comply with the relevant conditions. These conditions will prohibit the expression of support for the CBO in any form and prohibit the participation of players receiving funding from the states of Russia and/or Belarus (including sponsorship from companies managed or controlled by these states), according to a statement on the official website of Wimbledon.

Photo: © REUTERS / Ibraheem Al Omari

For tennis players you can be calm

To some extent, what is happening recalled the recent recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the admission of Russians and Belarusians. There, too, they seemed to have given the green light, but the canvas was rolled out of the conditions, some of which are hardly feasible. The head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, even had to apologize and make excuses two days later for what he himself announced. So the leadership of Wimbledon tried to combine adequacy with following the political agenda.

At the same time, the conditions of the British look much softer than the recommendations of the IOC. It must be understood that most of the leading Russian and Belarusian tennis players do not live and train in their homeland. And they are hardly sponsored by companies controlled by Russia or Belarus. These may be very isolated cases, but definitely not massive.

Edition Tennis Majors learned about another important detail. Russian and Belarusian tennis players will probably need to sign a “declaration of neutrality”, but the publication’s sources did not disclose the contents of these documents. That is, the British, in fact, put Russian tennis players in front of a difficult choice and, choking with impotence, set them up. How petty and mean!

At the same time, tennis is still the most protected summer sport for Russians. The President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Stanislav Pozdnyakov, commenting on the latest statements by Thomas Bach, suggested that tennis would be the only discipline in which Russians could take part and even qualify for the Paris Olympics. And if they meet the insane criteria of the IOC, then they will somehow break through to Wimbledon. You don’t have to worry about this. There would be a desire.