‘I will play irrespective of the situation,’ Emma Raducanu takes a strong stand and confirms her participation in Wimbledon 2022
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Emma Raducanu
Things all over the world have been in a grey area because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The war has affected almost all walks of life including sports. While several ruling bodies have taken a soft corner, tennis, in general, has allowed Russian players to continue to compete in tournaments. But Wimbledon, which is the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, has banned Russian and Belarussian athletes to compete in the 2022 Championships. This decision was taken in accordance with the UK government to take a firm stand against all Russians.
The decision wasn’t taken well by most players as they argued that the athletes are punished for crimes that they didn’t commit. As a result, the ATP and WTA have taken a decision that no ranking points will be awarded for this year’s tournament in order to take a stand against discrimination against a few players by Wimbledon.
Although this decision is taken as a counter punch towards Wimbledon, it will affect a lot of players indirectly who will lose ranking points from last year’s and incur a massive fall in the rankings. Hence many players have expressed their disappointment and are inclined towards opting out of Wimbledon 2022.
Emma Raducanu doesn’t care about ranking points at Wimbledon
US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who burst into the scenes last year at Wimbledon, has also spoken about the matter. She said that the situation is pretty sad for all the players but when competing on the court, nothing will change because of it.
“I think that it’s definitely a pretty sad situation for all of the players. When we are out on the court, it’s still the same, you still want to win and nothing is going to change in that sense,” Raducanu said after her first round win at the French Open.
She then announced that she will be competing at Wimbledon irrespective of the situation even if that means she cannot defend her ranking points from last year.
“For me, I personally will play Wimbledon whatever. I have a got a lot of points coming off but for me, it doesn’t really matter whatever the situation is, I am here to play and I will play whatever the situation is. If that means I cannot defend my points then so be it. But I just enjoy competing,” she said.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)