Daniil Medvedev to stay clear of spats about ‘tricky’ Wimbledon situation, but happy to play if ban is reversed

Shahida Jacobs
May 16, 2022

Daniil Medvedev acknowledges that “everybody’s going to give a different opinion” about the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon and other events in the United Kingdom, but he says he would ready to play if the decision is overturned.

Although players from those two countries are still allowed to compete at ATP, WTA and ITF events under neutral flags following Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, the All England Club (AELTC) and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) opted to take a stronger stand as they barred players from all tournaments in the United Kingdom.

Several players, including Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, have criticised the decision while the ATP and WTA have indicated they could take action with reports suggesting Wimbledon could be stripped of its ranking points.

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If the ban stays, then world No 2 Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Aslan Karatsev will be the highest-profile men’s players who will miss the grass-court Grand Slam.

Reigning US Open champion Medvedev is trying to steer clear of any arguments about the issue, but would be happy to play if organisers make a U-turn.

“I tried to follow what’s happening because I don’t have any decisions to make. It’s right now about Wimbledon itself, the ATP, maybe the British government is involved,” he said.

“It’s a tricky situation and like every situation in life, you ask 100 players, everybody’s going to give a different opinion.

“(When) you show a tennis ball to 100 people, I’m sure some of them are going to say it’s green and not yellow. I think it’s yellow. (But) if somebody tells me it’s green, I’m not going to get in conflict with this person.”

He added: “I don’t know if this decision is 100% and it’s over (for me),” he said.

“If I can play, I’m going to be happy to play in Wimbledon. I love this tournament. If I cannot play – well, I’m going to try to play other tournaments and prepare well for next year if I have the chance to play.”

Although Medvedev – who will return to action at the Geneva Open this week after several weeks on the sidelines due to injury – doesn’t want to get into any arguments, would be happy to have discussions with his fellow professionals about the ban.

“Since I haven’t been on the tour, I haven’t talked to any of them face to face. It was the first time when I came here on Saturday when I can talk to players, and if they start talking about this, we can discuss,” he said.

“I don’t know exactly what’s happening, what’s going to happen, if there are going to be more decisions made.

“Same about Wimbledon. I don’t know if this decision is 100 percent, and it’s over.”

Daniil Medvedev