LONDON: World No.1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic and other unvaccinated players will be allowed to compete at Wimbledon, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which runs the grass court slam, confirmed Tuesday.
Another decision made by AELTC for Wimbledon 2022 was that restrictions on crowd size and other steps taken in 2021 when the tournament returned after being canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic will disappear. “We’re planning to return to a normal championships this year,” Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton said, “and so we don’t intend to implement any of the COVID-19 measures that we saw last year in any substantial fashion.”
On the hypocritical position taken by AELTC to ban Russian and Belarusian players, there was more of politically expedient jaw jaw and less of actions based on due process and legal principles (much like the decision to ban Djokovic from the Australian Open for his being unvaccinated, though that was all down to the Scott Morrison-led Australian government).
The biggest indicator that the so called “free choice” stance tom-tommed by organisations such as AELTC was more for public consumption than anything else, All England Club chairman Ian Hewitt had this to say on the vexed issue: “…the UK Government has set out directional guidance for sporting bodies and events in the UK… We have taken that directional guidance into account, as we must as a high-profile event and leading British institution.” Shorn of hyperbole, AELTC’s decision is a political one, and follows the UK government “guidance”. Nothing more, nothing less.
Will there be any repercussions for AELTC on its patently unprincipled decision? The WTA and ATP tennis tours, which have publicly criticised the All England Club’s decision have reportedly considered NOT awarding rankings points for Wimbledon. Could that happen? Seen from this perch, it appears highly unlikely.
As AP reports, among the most prominent players affected by the ban announced last week are reigning US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, who recently reached No. 1 in the rankings and is currently No. 2; No. 8 Andrey Rublev; No. 4 Aryna Sabalenka, 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, Rublev and Pavlyuchenkova are from Russia; Sabalenka and Azarenka are from Belarus. There are many more of course.
Meanwhile, with scheduled matches held on the tournament’s middle Sunday for the first time, Wimbledon no longer will contest all 16 women’s and men’s fourth-round singles matches on the second Monday. Those matches will be split between Sunday and Monday, while there will be a mix of women’s and men’s quarterfinals held on the second Tuesday and Wednesday, instead of just having women’s matches on Tuesday and men’s on Wednesday.
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ATP, WTA, Novak slam Wimbledon ban on Russian, Belarusian players
