Daniil Medvedev replaces Novak Djokovic at the top of the world rankings for three weeks in 2022.
Russian and Belarusian players will not be eligible to participate in Wimbledon this year due to the invasion of Ukraine.
The second place in the world for men Daniil Medvedev from Russia and the fourth number in the world for women Arina Sabalenka from Belarus are the highest ranked players who will be affected.
Players on both sides have the right to participate in the tennis tour, but not under their national flags.
Wimbledon is held from June 27 to July 10.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) is expected to confirm the move later Wednesday.
Sabalenka reached the semifinals of last year’s tournament, while Medvedev, who was named one of the stars of the tie in the external relations of the warm-up event on the grass court in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands today, reached the fourth round.
Russia’s No. 15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – who called for the war to end foreign relations earlier this year – and Belarus’ 18th-ranked Victoria Azarenka will also miss out.
The Russian Andrei Rublev is eighth in the men’s standings, and his compatriot Karen Khachanov is 26th.
All of them will still be able to compete in the French Open, which starts in May.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized the ban.
“Given that Russia is a strong tennis country and our athletes have the first places in the world rankings, the tournament itself would suffer from this ban,” he said.
“It is inadmissible for athletes to be again hostages of certain political prejudices, intrigues and hostile actions towards our country.
AELTC, which is hosting the Grass Grand Slam tournament, consulted with the government in April on whether to allow players to compete.
Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said earlier that “no one flying the Russian flag should have the right” to play at Wimbledon.
However, WTA chief Steve Simon told BBC Sport in March that he did not believe players on both sides should be banned from tournaments.
Earlier, Russia was banned from defending its Davis Cup and Billy Jean King titles after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, a military operation backed by Belarus.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Men’s Tennis Association (ATP) have terminated their combined competition, scheduled to take place in Moscow in October.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has also canceled its events in the country.
“There comes a time when silence is betrayal”
Ukraine’s world number 25 Elina Svitolina issued a long statement Wednesday calling on tennis authorities to take a tougher stance against Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Svitolina took a break from sports to deal with her back problem and the emotional impact of the invasion.
She posted on social media, urging the ATP, WTA and ITF to ask Russian and Belarusian players if they support the war, military activities in Ukraine or the regimes of Russian and Belarusian presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko.
“If applicable, we demand that we exclude and ban all Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in any competition,” she wrote.
“In times of crisis, silence means agreeing with what is happening.
“There comes a time when silence is betrayal, and that time is now.”
Olga Savchuk, who captained Ukraine in last week’s Billy Jean King Cup match against the United States, said Russian players should be banned from competing.
“This cannot be just a sanction against 90% of the Russian people and 10% no,” Savchuk told the New York Times.external-link
“It has to be even and I think it’s collective guilt.”
Former Ukrainian number 13 Alexander Dolgopolov thanked Wimbledon for “strengthening and setting an example for the world”.
“I believe that Russia must be isolated in all possible ways and the people of Russia must solve this problem,” he told BBC Sport.
Analysis
The All England Club will explain its reasons later, but it’s a decision that sets it apart from the crowd.
Not in sports, in general, as athletics, badminton, canoeing and rowing have been banned by individual athletes from Russia and Belarus.
But in tennis, the lists for the French Open have been published with these players, and neither the WTA nor the ATP Tour believe it is fair to prevent these people from continuing their careers.
Russian and Belarusian players were well received by the crowds in Indian Wells last month, but strangely enough, the players seemed happy to compete against them – albeit with the deletion of their nationalities from the boards and rankings.
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