Andy Murray and others 'not supportive' of Wimbledon banning Russian and Belarusian players

Wimbledon officials admitted to having received a directive from the government that coaxed them to exempt players from Russia and Belarus from participating in this year's Grand Slam, which is set to commence on June 27. The government has asked sporting figures to acquire written confirmation of players' neutrality if they wish to participate.

According to Murray, the government's interference was not very helpful. Furthermore, he is giving away all of his prize money to humanitarian relief in Ukraine this season. The fact that Russians and Belarusians can play if they sign a declaration that they're against the war repelled the British legend. He revealed that he would feel uncomfortable if something happened to one of the players or their families for standing up against the war and the Russian regime. He is strictly against players getting banned.

Tennis players stand in solidarity against the ongoing unrest.

Murray decided to examine the situation up close and extend his sympathies to the players of the respective countries. He spoke to athletes from both countries and revealed that he felt bad seeing them banned from the tournament calling it "unfair." However, he knows some of the people working at Wimbledon and the challenging position. They can't help but stick to their duties which stops him from picking sides. 

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal is entirely against the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon and other players. Andrey Rublev called it "complete discrimination," Novak Djokovic labelled it as "crazy", and Victoria Azarenka thinks it makes "no sense". Now, Rafael Nadal has placed it as "very unfair". Nadal admitted that he feels for his Russian tennis mates and his colleagues. The ongoing war and disturbances have nothing to do with them. 

ATP and WTA might implement changes to Wimbledon this year

The governing bodies of men's and women's professional tennis, the ATP and WTA, are taking a stand against the ban and might decide to eradicate ranking points from Wimbledon this year. Nadal further said that the 2,000 points attributed to Grand Slams are crucial, so they need to discuss specific measures to fight this political calamity consuming the world of tennis. For him, tennis is not as important as the number of lives at stake in Ukraine. 

Djokovic, who is playing in Madrid this season, reiterated the same. He thinks the system is unfair, but it is what it is. The authorities are entitled to make the decision, so it eventually depends on the player council and the tour management to find a feasible solution to the problem regardless of whether they keep the points, protect the points, or take away 50 per cent of the points, or employ other alternatives. He thinks the governing bodies of tennis are more likely to retain the points format. However, the more realistic option for him is if they could protect the points from the Russian and Belarusian players that are not playing.