Estonia bans Russian players from competing but unlike Wimbledon, no ranking points deducted

Estonia bans Russian players from competing but unlike Wimbledon, no ranking points deducted

Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka and Andrey Rublev

The Estonian capital, Tallinn, is to host a Women’s Tennis Association tournament for the first time; the WTA 250 Tallinn Open will be held at the end of September and Estonian number one, Anett Kontaveit and veteran Kaia Kanepi, have agreed to participate. Estonia is also staging two ITF tournaments next month.

Estonia’s Tennis Association has followed in the footsteps of the All England Club, which means it has also banned Russian and Belarusian players from participating in the country’s upcoming events. But unlike Wimbledon, there is a possibility that ranking points won’t be deducted. According to Allar Hint, the general secretary of the Estonian Tennis Federation, the ITF events will have ranking points since there are alternate tournaments in other countries where the banned players will be able to compete.

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Estonian Tennis Federation follows Wimbledon and also bans Russian and Belarusian players from participating

Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka - Absentees from the 2022 Wimbledon
Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka – Absentees from the 2022 Wimbledon

“International sports are now in no way separated from politics, Russia and Belarus use sports to achieve their strategic goals. With this decision, we are sending a clear message,” Liina Krsna said in a statement. The move comes after players from the two nations were banned from competing in Britain over the grass season.

Estonia becomes the third tennis federation to implement such kind of ban on the Russian and Belarusian players after the All England club banned them from taking part in the Wimbledon 2022. Soon after the All England club’s decision, Latvia became the second nation to bar the Russians from participating in ITF events held in their country.

It is yet to be seen whether the WTA will allot any ranking points or not for the tournament, similar to its stance on Wimbledon. Russian Tennis president Shamil Tarpischev said the decisions from Estonia were not surprising but did not come from a good place. “Well, what’s new here? Banned and banned. It’s not from a great mind,” Tarpischev said as per Ubitennis.

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