“I believe tennis can be without politics” Banned from Wimbledon, Russian player Andrey Rublev calls for better unity in the sport
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Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev is a Russian tennis player who is considered one of the emerging stars of tennis. The Russian player is currently ranked at no. 8 in the ATP Rankings, his best year so far was 2020 when he reached grand slams quarter-finals on two occasions at the French and US Open. He has 11 singles career titles to his name. At the 2015 Davis Cup, 18-year-old Rublev won the deciding match and helped Russia make a stunning comeback to beat Spain. With that, they entered the World Group Play-offs.
The former world no.5 is currently playing in the Citi Open at Washington, D.C. where he has progressed to the round of 16 after overcoming his British opponent Jack Draper in their match at the round of 32. The Russian showcased a powerful game, beating his opponent in two straight sets 6-4, 6-2. Rublev, in his next match, will face Maxime Cressy where both will compete to get a quarter-final spot.
Andrey Rublev: I believe that tennis can be without politics
Rublev couldn’t take part in the Wimbledon 2022 due to a ban imposed on Russian Players by the All England Club. In an interview with Russian Youtuber, Vitya Kravchenko in mid-July Rublev said he tried to negotiate with the All England Club to be able to compete there despite the ban on all players from Russia and Belarus. The Russian revealed that he offered several suggestions that could enable him and other Russians to play at Wimbledon without endorsing the Russian government’s actions in Ukraine.
After his first win in the Citi Open, Rublev recalled his dissatisfaction with the All England Club’s decision and why sports should not be aligned with politics, particularly tennis. He said, “I think politics has always (been there) in sport. Everybody knows this. But I do believe that by being united and doing good things for peace, tennis can be … example of it, maybe other sports will follow, and in general, maybe one day sport can be without politics.”
“I believe that tennis can be without politics because tennis is something that is independent. I think it’s one of not many sports that’s independent from the rest of the sports. We have players from everywhere. We play every country. … We are travelling all around the world. … I think tennis has a good chance to be outside of politics, because, yeah, we have all the nations (playing),” he said.
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