Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev likely to be banned after Ukraine calls for blanket ban on Russian tennis players
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Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev
In the wake of the Ukraine -Russia crisis, European Union has imposed sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Now, fresh restrictions might be imposed on Russian athletes, banning them from competing at international events. If this is approved top Russian players including Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are likely to be banned from competing at upcoming tournaments.
After months of denying the invasion, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a full-fledged war on neighboring Ukraine under the guise of ‘military operations.’ This sly move has met with serious restrictions imposed by the west in an attempt to isolate Russia. The repercussions of this are being felt in the sporting world as well. Tennis tournaments have been shifted out from Russia, recently an ATP 250 tournament in St.Petersburg was shifted to Nur-Sultan. The ITF also canceled all tournaments taking place in Russia indefinitely.
Now, athletes from Ukraine have demanded stricter sanctions on Russia and also proposed a blanket ban over the participation of Russian athletes at sporting tournaments. The Ukrainian tennis federation has also sent a letter to the ITF and Tennis Europe, to ban Russian and Belarus from hosting International tournaments and also impose a ban on Russian athletes from competing at these tournaments.
“Russia and Belarus have no right not only to hold international competitions on their territories but also participate in all ITF team and individual tournaments abroad,” the statement read.
This puts serious doubts over the participation of Russian and Belarusian tennis players on tour. Top Russian players might have to miss out on tournaments if the ban is approved. The next major tournament is scheduled to be at the Indian Wells. Newly crowned World No.1 Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, and Aslan Karatsev are in the main draw of the tournament, whereas on the WTA side, Aryna Sabalenka, Veronika Kudermetova and Victoria Azarenka are some of the notable players on the entry list. Now with the proposal of a blanket ban over Russian athletes, uncertainty looms over their participation.
Meanwhile, the players themselves have been vocal over their support from Ukraine. Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev recently spoke out against the war and called for peace. Rublev even expressed solidarity with Ukraine and wrote a ‘No To War’ Post during the recently concluded Dubai Tennis Championship
ITF suspends all tournaments in Russia
ITF recently postponed an ITF World Tennis Tour M15 event that was scheduled to take place in April and also suspended all tournaments scheduled to take place in Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
“Our first and highest priority is to protect the safety of tennis players and all those traveling to and participating at ITF events. Due to heightened security concerns, the ITF has postponed the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 event due to take place in Ukraine this April and has canceled all ITF events taking place in Russia indefinitely,” the ITF’s statement read.
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T Rushitha
(360 Articles Published)