Officials of one of the four prestigious Grand Slam tournaments, the 2022 Wimbledon, announced a decision on Wednesday to bar players from Russia and Belarus, the tournament’s organizers said in a statement.
"On behalf of the All England Club and the Committee of Management of The Championships, we wish to express our ongoing support for all those impacted by the conflict in Ukraine during these shocking and distressing times," the statement from the Wimbledon organizing committee reads.
"It is therefore our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to The Championships 2022," the statement added.
A possible move to bar tennis players from Russia and Belarus from 2022 Wimbledon was voiced early on Wednesday by The New York Times daily. One of this year’s four Grand Slam tournaments is scheduled to run between June 27 and July 10.
Russia intended to line up for the 2022 Wimbledon, World’s No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev (ATP’s No. 8), Karen Khachanov (ATP’s No. 26), Aslan Karatsev (ATP’s No. 30) in the men’s competitions, as well as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (WTA’s No. 15), Daria Kasatkina (WTA’s No. 26), Veronika Kudermetova (WTA’s No. 29), Lyudmila Samsonova (WTA’s No. 31), Yekaterina Alexandrova (WTA’s No. 39) in ladies’ competitions.
