Daniil Medvedev has nothing however admiration for a possible return to Wimbledon, with the sixth-ranked Russian refusing to be deterred by reviews of a potential rescinding of the All England Club’s ban on Russian and Belarusian gamers.
The United Kingdom’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) got here below stress from the British authorities to impose the ban final 12 months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and an eventual ban prolonged to the grass courtroom Grand Slam at Wimbledon.
Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported final week that Wimbledon will seemingly raise the ban, however Medvedev was not constructing on it when requested on the arduous courtroom match in Indian Wells.
“Same like last year, you know, we hear rumors,” he mentioned, including when requested that he’d heard nothing from organizers and would not count on to.
“I know that I’m not someone who’s going to make this decision for them or even help them make this decision,” Medvedev mentioned. “They must make it by themselves for his or her completely different causes, like they made it final 12 months.
“I at all times mentioned that I’ll respect this resolution. I play the place I can play. Last 12 months I could not play Wimbledon – I used to be training arduous again the place I dwell.
“That’s the only thing I can do. Tennis is my job, so I will be really happy to play Wimbledon. I absolutely love this tournament, but if it’s not meant to be, I’m going to wait for the opportunity to be back there.”
Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus mentioned she’s attempting to “stay away” from hypothesis after discovering the ban final 12 months “super painful.”
Now, she mentioned, she’s realized “I cannot control it.”
“They will do no matter they need and I actually hope that we’re going to play there.
“I like the tournament, it’s a beautiful place and I like the crowd … I just really hope that they’re going to let us play. If not, then what can I do? Nothing.”
Sabalenka mentioned she had managed to distance herself emotionally from the talk in regards to the battle over the previous 12 months.
“Before I was really worried about that and I didn’t really know what to do,” she mentioned. “I actually thought that the state of affairs is my fault.
“Then I realized that, yes, this is not under my control and I did nothing really bad against the Ukrainian people. This is just not my fault (I have) zero control of the situation.”
Last 12 months, 5 tournaments staged by the LTA banned Russian and Belarusian gamers.
Wimbledon was the one Grand Slam occasion with such a ban and the ATP and WTA stripped the match of its world rating factors.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
