The Kremlin has hit back at the All England Club over their ban on Russian tennis players competing at Wimbledon this summer.
At a press conference on Wednesday, government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “making athletes victims of some kind of political prejudices, intrigues, hostile actions towards country is unacceptable.”
Current U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev is Russian and ranked No. 2 in the world. Russia has four men ranked in the top 30 in the world.
The ban will also have a significant impact on the women’s draw. There are currently five Russian women ranked in the top 40 of the WTA rankings, while Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus is ranked fourth. She was a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year. Former world No. 1 and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka is also from Belarus and is currently ranked No. 18 in the world.
“Considering Russia is a very strong tennis country, the competition itself will suffer from their removal,” Peskov added.
Russian and Belarusian players are allowed to compete on the ATP and WTA Tours but as neutral athletes. They will be allowed to compete in the year’s second Grand Slam event, the French Open, next month in Paris.
Wimbledon will begin June 27 outside London. The All England Club did leave the door open for a possible lifting of the ban “if circumstances change materially between now and June.”
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