Representatives of the organizing All England Club (AELTC) announced on Friday that, unlike last year, they will allow Russian and Belarusian tennis players to compete in Wimbledon as neutrals this year. Last year, due to the invasion of Ukraine, the club did not allow tennis players from allied countries to the tournament under pressure from the British government. The AELTC has been criticized by both the ATP and WTA professional bodies for this, and has reduced the value of the legendary tournament by not awarding world ranking points for it.
“Of course, my position is still clear, I am against the war and I care more about the people and players from Ukraine. I appreciate that Wimbledon had a hard time last year when no points were awarded because the Russians and Belarusians did not play there,” Kvitova answered the question , what the 2011 and 2014 champion says about Friday’s Wimbledon announcement.
“And in my opinion, they (tennis players from Russia and Belarus) shouldn’t even compete in the Olympics. I’m more on the Ukrainian side in this. I feel like the Olympics are here because we don’t want war in the world. So that worries me. And I really appreciated when Wimbledon didn’t invite them last year,” repeated the bronze medalist from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016, who will face Jelena Rybakinová from Kazakhstan in the final today in Miami.
Tennis, as one of the few sports, allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to continue competing individually with neutral status after the start of the war in Ukraine last February, but they are not allowed to participate in team competitions. This week, the International Olympic Committee recommended to all international federations the return of representatives of both countries as individual neutral athletes. Ukrainian politicians and sports representatives reacted negatively to this and ordered their athletes to boycott competitions with Russians and Belarusians.
