Wimbledon was stripped of ranking points by ATP, WTA and ITF. As a result, Daniil Medvedev could displace Novak Djokovic at the top of the charts.
File image of the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, AP
Wimbledon, considered as the most prestigious tournament in tennis, was stripped of ranking points by ATP, WTA and ITF in a move that threatens the pull for the third major of the year. The decision is in response to Wimbledon banning Russian and Belarusian players following the invasion of Ukraine.
Wimbledon’s decision ruled out a swathe of top players, including men’s World No 2 Daniil Medvedev, last year’s women’s semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka as well as two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka.
Expectedly, the decisions from both sides have its supporters and critics. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had termed Wimbledon’s decision to bar Russian and Belarusian players as “unfair”. Now, former Ukraine pro Sergiy Stakhovsky hit out at ATP Tour for “standing on the side of the invaders and murderers.”
What did ATP and WTA have to say in their decision-making?
“It is with great regret and reluctance that we see no option but to remove ATP Ranking points from Wimbledon for 2022,” said an ATP statement.
“Our rules and agreements exist in order to protect the rights of players as a whole. Unilateral decisions of this nature, if unaddressed, set a damaging precedent for the rest of the Tour.
“Discrimination by individual tournaments is simply not viable.”
Meanwhile WTA chief executive Steve Simon said that his organisation believed “that individual athletes participating in an individual sport should not be penalised solely because of their nationalities or the decisions made by the governments of their countries.”
“As a result of the All England Tennis Club’s position that it will not honour its obligation to use the WTA Rankings for entry into Wimbledon, and proceed with a partial field not based on merit, the WTA has made the difficult decision to not award ranking points for this year’s Wimbledon,” he added.
Unlike Wimbledon, the warm-up events in Britain have retained their ranking points. ATP and WTA chose not to strip points from the lead-in events because other European tournaments were still open to Russian and Belarusian players during those three weeks of the season.
The WTA did announce that it was putting the tournaments in Nottingham, Birmingham and Eastbourne on probation because of the ban.
Have Wimbledon said anything?
Wimbledon chiefs at the All England Club labelled the move by the ATP and WTA as “disproportionate”.
“We believe these decisions to be disproportionate in the context of the exceptional and extreme circumstances of this situation and the position we found ourselves in, and damaging to all players who compete on tour,” said AELTC in a statement not long after the ATP, WTA and ITF’s communications were announced.
The open ended nature of ATP and Wimbledon’s statement suggested a resolution could be reached. “We remain hopeful of further discussions with Wimbledon leading to an acceptable outcome for all concerned,” said the ATP. While Wimbledon said they’d consider their options and make an announcement in due course.
How does this affect Wimbledon and the players?
When World No 1 Novak Djokovic won Wimbledon in 2021, he earned 2,000 points. Without ranking points, Wimbledon is reduced to a high-profile exhibition event.
Medvedev, World No 2, is now in excellent position to displace Djokovic after Wimbledon because the Serb loses 2000 points without it being replaced. The Russian, who reached the Round of 16 at Wimbledon last year, will only lose 180 points.
Players are interested in tournaments by variety of factors with prize money and ranking points chief to them. Without the ranking points, a large number of players could be making long expensive trips without long term benefits and squandering their ability to fight for points from last year.
Without ranking points, many players could give the tournament a miss thus affecting the marketability, attendance and quality of the 2022 edition of the Championships.
Has this happened to Wimbledon before?
Yes. In 1973, 81 players boycotted the Wimbledon tournament. The impasse was reached after Niki Pili? refused to play for Yugoslavia against New Zealand in the Davis Cup. As a result, International Lawn Tennis Federation, an amateur tennis governing body, suspended Pilic from Wimbledon.
This came just a year after the formation of the ATP and much to the surprise of the governing bodies, 80 more men joined in the protest and supported Pilic. This included the two most-recent champions John Newcombe and Stan Smith. As a result, a large number of qualifiers and lucky losers made up the draw.
The player movement solidified the importance of the ATP. But Wimbledon saw its second-highest attendance of any fortnight during that period.
How have the players reacted to the decision?
“I think when you are backed into a corner and that’s all you can do, I think that’s why the decision was made, and I support it,” said former US Open champion Sloane Stephens. She also refused to divulge the conversations that happened before the announcement was made.
Casper Ruud, who won the clay court tournament last week in Geneva, said it was unfair on the grass court specialists.
“Wimbledon is not where I make most of my points, so for me, it’s doesn’t matter too much when you think about the points but for other players it’s of course unfair that they cannot even get the chance,” said Ruud.
“The ATP is trying to do their best for the players. Wimbledon made a decision that I’m not happy with, but that’s their decision and I have to respect them,” said Joao Sousa who reached the final in Geneva.
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