‘IT’S A TRICKY SITUATION’- DANIIL MEDVEDEV TALKS ON WIMBLEDON BAN ON RUSSIAN AND BELARUSIAN PLAYERS.
Novak Djokovic spoke out about the ban last month.
Daniil Medvedev hopes to still play in Wimbledon next month after the All England Club announced its decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from the tournament.
Medvedev, the world No. 2 ATP ranked men’s tennis player, returned to action at the Geneva Open Tuesday after spending six weeks recovering from a hernia operation.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the Geneva Open, the 26-year-old Russian expressed hope that Wimbledon organizers would reverse the ban.
“I don’t know if this decision is 100%,” Medvedev said, via Sky Sports. “If I can play, I’m going to be happy to play in Wimbledon. I love this tournament. If I cannot play… well, I’m going to try to play other tournaments and prepare well for next year if I have the chance to play.”
Last month, Wimbledon organizers said the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players came amid Russia’s “unprecedented military aggression” against Ukraine and its people.
The All England Club previously said in March that it was having discussions with the British government about whether to implement a ban, similar to several other international sports governing bodies.
“I tried to follow what’s happening because I don’t have any decisions to make. It’s right now about Wimbledon itself, the ATP, maybe the British government is involved,” Medvedev said.
“It’s a tricky situation, and like every situation in life, you ask 100 players, everybody’s going to give a different opinion,” he added. “[If] you show a tennis ball to 100 people, I’m sure some of them are going to say it’s green and not yellow. I think it’s yellow. If somebody tells me it’s green, I’m not going to get in conflict with this person.”
Novak Djokovic, a six-time Wimbledon champion, spoke out about the ban while at the Serbian Open last month.
“I will always condemn war. I will never support war being myself a child of war,” Djokovic said of his youth, via Sky Sports. “I know how much emotional trauma it leaves. In Serbia, we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans, we have had many wars in recent history.”
“However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon. I think it is crazy. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good,” he added.
World No. 8 Andrey Rublev was another men’s player impacted by the ban. The women’s players affected include No. 4 Aryna Sabalenka, who was a Wimbledon semifinalist last year; Victoria Azarenka, a former No. 1 who has won the Australian Open twice; and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the French Open runner-up last year.
Medvedev had said he wanted to promote peace around the world when his country decided to invade Ukraine in February.
“We play in so many different countries. I’ve been in so many different countries as a junior and as a pro. It’s just not easy to hear all this news. I’m all for peace,” he said at the time, via Reuters.
The London tournament is set to start in late June.
