Wimbledon

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Wimbledon

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Yes. I would imagine the LTA/AELTC will not impose the sanction for next year.
And that would be reasonable enough
They've made their point, taken a stand, it hasn't been followed by others, the UK government has changed, and the war is still going on...but they can stand tall in saying they tried to make a difference
The lack of teeth from the global governing bodies is another issue but it is far more difficult in an individual sport, as above

The Times reports today that the LTA is set to lift the ban next year. The link is to an earlier version of the article. Curiously, however, I found that I was unable to save an updated version which appears on today's Times on-line (with the addition of a contribution from Stu Fraser) because the version published at 13.00 yesterday, with the same URL, had already been saved by someone else!

Today's version is under the headline "Wimbledon set to lift ban on Russians after ATP threat to expel British tennis" & opens with the following sentence:

Wimbledon is poised to lift its ban on Russian players next year after British tennis was threatened with expulsion from the ATP Tour.

&, after a rejigged version of the paragraph about the ban, goes on:

Sources close to the All England Club say that a concern before this year's championships was that a Russian or Belarusian player could make a political gesture supporting the invasion, such as the "Z" T-shirt worn by one Russian gymnast. However, given that all the players from those countries have been participating on the ATP and Women's Tennis Association tours as neutrals without any such demonstrations, the feeling is there is little chance they would do so in the UK.

This paragraph is common to both versions:

There is also frustration inside the LTA that ATP players can play in Russian exhibition events without sanction, while the new United Cup mixed-gender team tournament being played in Australia next month will earn ATP ranking points despite excluding Russian players.

GAMEOVER · Pro player

Coup Droit wrote:
Yes. I would imagine the LTA/AELTC will not impose the sanction for next year.
And that would be reasonable enough
They've made their point, taken a stand, it hasn't been followed by others, the UK government has changed, and the war is still going on...but they can stand tall in saying they tried to make a difference
The lack of teeth from the global governing bodies is another issue but it is far more difficult in an individual sport, as above

As to making their point, Oliver Brown in the Telegraph writes that at the time , a blanket ban seemed a noble idea, but in reality the action appears little more than an act of self-sabotage. Current culture secretary Michelle Donelan still spouting the Government line as before. Since the 2022 ban our PM, Culture Secretary and Sports Minister have all changed.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Exactly. They've made their point. Maybe it didn't work out quite as hoped. But it had good intentions and they've got the room now to change. And, sure, I agree, as above, far easier now Boris and his team have gone - Ukraine is not Rishi's real priority, it's not his 'get-out-of-jail-free card' as Boris made it, even though the general position is the same.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes the ATP punitive action and risk of further sanctions certainly puts our governing bodies in a spot.

I personally never saw the withdrawal of ranking points from Wimbledon as a particular punishment, more a very logical follow-on from the ATP / WTA position - if Russians and Belarusians are being banned against the ATP / WTA's wishes and hence denied ranking points (with no equivalent alternative ) then everyone should be denied ranking points.

Wimbledon could have coped with no ranking points again. As I expected that had very limited effect on the quality of this year's event and it was clearly very far from the exhibition type event some had feared. At the end of the day it's still a very prestigious Slam.

But these sanctions create a whole new ballgame and yes it looks time to pragmatically decide that they made their point but they cannot allow such potentially further detrimental effect on the domestic game. So I imagine that the vast majority of folk will understand a change of tack for next year.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
Yes the ATP punitive action and risk of further sanctions certainly puts our governing bodies in a spot.

I personally never saw the withdrawal of ranking points from Wimbledon as a particular punishment, more a very logical follow-on from the ATP / WTA position - if Russians and Belarusians are being banned against the ATP / WTA's wishes and hence denied ranking points (with no equivalent alternative ) then everyone should be denied ranking points.

Wimbledon could have coped with no ranking points again. As I expected that had very limited effect on the quality of this year's event and it was clearly very far from the exhibition type event some had feared. At the end of the day it's still a very prestigious Slam.

But these sanctions create a whole new ballgame and yes it looks time to pragmatically decide that they made their point but they cannot allow such potentially further detrimental effect on the domestic game. So I imagine that the vast majority of folk will understand a change of tack for next year.

Agreed - begrudgingly! Haha

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
Yes. I would imagine the LTA/AELTC will not impose the sanction for next year.
And that would be reasonable enough
They've made their point, taken a stand, it hasn't been followed by others, the UK government has changed, and the war is still going on...but they can stand tall in saying they tried to make a difference
The lack of teeth from the global governing bodies is another issue but it is far more difficult in an individual sport, as above
The Times reports today that the LTA is set to lift the ban next year.

The latest comments from the Beeb.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

And for all their righteous posturing a women who is Russian and lives in Moscow won Wimbledon anyway. I know the ban had alot of support but personally I always thought it was ridiculous and came more from shallow reasons than genuine ethical ones.

foobarbaz · Strong Club Player

The situation in Eastern Europe going critical, yet folk seem to think tennis shouldn't rock the boat. 'Business as usual' fell from a hospital window, and a theoretical ATP ban is the least of our worries.

dodrade · Satellite level

Julia Carrot wrote:
And for all their righteous posturing a women who is Russian and lives in Moscow won Wimbledon anyway. I know the ban had alot of support but personally I always thought it was ridiculous and came more from shallow reasons than genuine ethical ones.

I thought it was very disrespectful that the Wimbledon social media pages refused to acknowledge Sabalenka's Australian Open win (while lavishing praise on Djokovic's victory).

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:
Stircrazy wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
Yes. I would imagine the LTA/AELTC will not impose the sanction for next year.
And that would be reasonable enough
They've made their point, taken a stand, it hasn't been followed by others, the UK government has changed, and the war is still going on...but they can stand tall in saying they tried to make a difference
The lack of teeth from the global governing bodies is another issue but it is far more difficult in an individual sport, as above
The Times reports today that the LTA is set to lift the ban next year.
The latest comments from the Beeb.

Elina Svitolina (UKR) believes that the ban should remain in place - just as the Polish Sports Minister claims that up to 40 countries, including the UK, the US & Canada, could threaten to boycott next year's Olympics in protest at the IOC's announcement last week that it planned to "explore a pathway" which would permit Russian & Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral flag, thus rendering them virtually meaningless.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

The neutral flag idea is pointless. Everyone knows where the relevant athlete comes from. It serves no purpose, as Svitolina points out.

Ban them or dont is my view. Personally , the Russians are building up again and will go on a big offence in spring. We will all want to ban them after that, mark my words.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

This war will be nasty for us all in a few months time

GAMEOVER · Pro player

Why does Svitolina not call for a ban on the other Grand Slams ? She never mentions them.

GAMEOVER · Pro player

If there is a ban again then chances are that Britain will lose its licence to hold major grass court events. Why are we the only country to ban the Russians/Belarus.?