When the grass classic takes place in Wimbledon from June 27th to June 10th, the Russian and Belarusian tennis stars will say: “Njet!” Because of the war of aggression, both Russian and Belarusian athletes were excluded. Daniil Medvedev, currently number two in the world rankings, is also affected by the exclusion. The Russian hasn’t toured since the end of March. At that time he suffered a defeat in the quarterfinals against Poland’s Hurkacz in Miami.
While he is still allowed to serve at the tournament in Geneva, he is doomed to watch the Grand Slam in Wimbledon. Medvedev will then be on compulsory leave until the end of June. At a press conference, Medvedev commented on the war in Ukraine and the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes: “Since I haven’t played recently, I was able to follow the news. And a lot of people have talked about it.” Djokovic and Nadal in particular supported the Russian athletes. “I didn’t speak to them directly because I wasn’t on the tour,” Medvedev said. “But I try to respect other opinions. If someone tells me a tennis ball is green, I’ll say ‘okay’ even if I think it’s yellow.”
Medvedev also has a clear opinion on the Wimbledon exclusion: “I can understand the decision, but we are talking about sport here. It is a difficult and unprecedented situation. Where is the line to ban players?” Medvedev asked. However, he only found words of praise for the tournament in Geneva. “I love this tournament. If it doesn’t work, I’ll find other tournaments.” Today, Tuesday, he meets Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
