‘I think sport should be outside politics,’ Andrey Rublev calls for unity amidst the Russia-Ukraine war, talks about a potential ban on Russian athletes at Wimbledon
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Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev has been nothing but amazing this season so far. Despite having a terrible second half of 2021, the Russian has managed to turn the tables and has been very consistent this season. He has already won two titles- Marseille and Dubai and managed to reach the semifinals at Rotterdam.
This week in Indian Wells too, Rublev has played exceptionally well and has stormed into the semifinals. He is yet to drop a set and got the better of Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinal in straight sets 7-5,6-2.
Being a Russian himself, Rublev is constantly asked about his views on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. In the past, he had made his stance clear that he is firmly against violence of any form and doesn’t want any war. In the press conference after his quarterfinal victory, Rublev once again spoke about this serious situation.
He termed the situation as ‘terrible’ and said that he feels bad for everyone. He then said that sport should set an example of how we want to perceive things and hoped for peace soon.
“What’s happening is terrible. I feel really bad for everyone. That’s why sport has to be an example: we have to be united, we need to be outside politics, to show an example at least inside of sports. I think that would be a good message for a better world,” he said.
‘We should be a good example to have a huge step forward’: Andrey Rublev
There were speculations since the last few days that Russian athletes may not be allowed to compete at Wimbledon due to the war. Rublev addressed the issue and said that as athletes, they want to compete because it has taken them so much sacrifice to get to where they are now. He reinstated that sports and politics shouldn’t be mixed.
“We’re athletes. We want to compete. We were sacrificing so many things. I think sport should be outside politics. Everyone says this, but in the end, still, it’s not happening. We should be a good example to have a huge step forward,” he said.
On the court, Rublev will face American Taylor Fritz in the semifinal on Saturday. He will fancy his chances for yet another Masters 1000 Final.
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Lakshya Chopra
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