MY ACCOUNT
Daniil Medvedev remains hopeful he can feature at Wimbledon despite Russian and Belarusian players being banned from the tournament due to the conflict in Ukraine.
The All England Club, along with the Lawn Tennis Association, confirmed in April that Russian and Belarusian players would not be permitted to play this year, due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
That means unless the ATP and WTA can convince tournament organisers to rethink, men’s world number two and reigning US Open champion Medvedev will not compete at Wimbledon.
The decision has split opinion in tennis, with the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andrey Rublev questioning the ruling, while Andy Murray expressed his backing.
However, Medvedev has not given up hope that Wimbledon may opt for a late change of heart and allow him to play.
“I don’t know if this decision is 100 per cent and it’s over [for me],” the Russian said.
“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.”
Questions remain as to a potential backlash should Wimbledon exclude the two countries’ players from appearing, with reports suggesting the ATP and WTA may remove ranking points from the tournament.
“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 added.
“It’s a tricky situation and like every situation in life, you ask 100 players, everybody’s going to give a different opinion.
“[When] 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. [But] if somebody tells me it’s green, I’m not going to get in conflict with this person.”
Medvedev returns to action this week at the Geneva Open, where he faces Richard Gasquet or Australian John Millman in his opening match after recovering from a hernia injury that kept him out for six weeks.
