“Ban Daniil Medvedev from all Grand Slams” demands Ukrainian Tennis Federation President
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Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev has been ranked the World No.1 for a mere 3 days since the rankings were updated on 28th February 2022. However, in the three days, the Russian player has had to face a lot of criticism and backlash due to the current war between Ukraine and Russia that started after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.
With the war now into its second week, the Russians are getting a lot of flak for unnecessary aggression. The Russian national teams and federations have already been ousted from various sports competitions and many countries have applied numerous sanctions as well against Russia.
The Ukrainian Tennis Federation had earlier asked the ITF and other tennis bodies to suspend the Russian Tennis Federation but did not receive an immediate response. However, on 1st March, the tennis authorities finally gave out a joint statement imposing a ban on all competitions in Russia and also the Russian Tennis Federation.
This move will however not affect the players who can continue playing but will be playing under a neutral flag and not the Russian flag. While the ban has been imposed, the President of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation, Seva Kewlysh is not yet satisfied and wishes for some more restrictions and bans to be inflicted.
“We will let Medvedev play the ATP Tour tournaments, but the Grand Slams are ITF tournaments. If you can’t play them, you’ll never be number one. Medvedev should not play at Roland‐Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open,” said Kewlysh as reported by welovetennis.fr.
Daniil Medvedev’s first tournament as World No. 1 will be 2022 Indian Wells Masters
Medvedev will be back on the court for the first time since his semi-final defeat at the 2022 Acapulco Open to Rafael Nadal. He will be next seen at the 2022 Indian Wells Masters where he will play his first tournament as the top-ranked player. This will also be his first tournament under the new rules where he will not be representing the Russian Tennis Federation and will be under a neutral flag.
The 2022 Indian Wells Masters will begin on 10th March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in the Californian desert with Medvedev looking to strengthen his lead at the top of the rankings with World No. 2 Novak Djokovic only 150 points behind. However, with Djokovic not allowed to enter the USA due to his unvaccinated status, Medvedev has a good chance to extend his lead at the top.
Also Read: Novak Djokovic mutually splits with long time coach Marian Vajda
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)