It’s discrimination against us: Andrey Rublev labels Wimbledon ban as ‘injustice’
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Andrey Rublev
In the advent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Wimbledon authorities have officially stated that they will ban Russian athletes from participating at this year’s Championships. The decision has completely shaken the tennis world as fans are divided with their opinions as ATP and WTA condemn the Wimbledon organisers for taking such a call.
The decision means players like World No.2 Daniil Medvedev, World No. 8 Andrey Rublev, Russia No.1 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and others like Victoria Azarenka, Aryna Sabalenka and Aslan Karatsev will be barred from taking the grass court. World NO.1 Novak Djokovic has also criticised the decision taken by All England Club.
Andrey Rublev, who is currently in Belgrade playing in the Serbia Open came up with a statement as he opened up to the AFP news agency present there at a press conference. The 24-year-old revealed that they had a call with the Wimbledon authorities and feels that the treatment is straight-up illogical and discriminatory against them.
He said, “I had a call with Wimbledon yesterday, just to talk about the situation and try to find a solution. To be honest, the reasons they have given for the exclusion make no sense and there is no logic in what they have proposed. I could have figured out if excluding Russian and Belarusian players had any impact, but it won’t do any good and it won’t change anything. What they are doing is discrimination against us.”
Rublev thought he could strike a fair bargain of donating his entire prize pool to the Ukrainian families who have suffered the most from this war in order to uplift the ban on them. But unfortunately, the Wimbledon authorities remained rigid in their stance. “Banning Russian or Belarusian players… will not change anything. To give all the prize money would have a more positive effect to humanitarian help, to the families who are suffering, to the kids who are suffering. I think that would do something. Tennis will, in that case, be the first and only sport who donates that amount of money and it will be Wimbledon so they will take all the glory.”
Lastly, Rublev shared how the Russian and the Belarusian players are after all competitors who want to play and compete and not talk about politics. “In the end what we want is to be able to compete; we are not here to talk about politics, also because I don’t know anything about it. I am Russian, I was born in Russia, I live my whole life in Russia and for this reason, I would like to show that we are good people. I hope this has clarified everything,” the World No.8 concluded.
Andrey Rublev through to the quarterfinals in Belgrade
The news of Wimbledon’s ban was in the rumours for the last week but it was officially confirmed on Thursday. However, an All England Club statement read that the decision on banning the players is taken only to condemn Russia and their illegal activities and this is how the British government is standing beside Ukraine. However, they shared that if matters change by the time the Wimbledon is yet to start, then they may rethink their decision.
“We share in the universal condemnation of Russia’s illegal actions and have carefully considered the situation in the context of our duties to the players, to our community and to the broader UK public as a British sporting institution.
“If circumstances change materially between now and June, we will consider and respond accordingly.”
Coming back to the tour, Rublev defeated Jiri Lehecka in the opening round at the Serbia Open. It was a tough fight for Rublev as he came from a set down to win the match. He never looked in his element and was visibly affected by Wimbledon’s decision. However, his current focus must be on facing Japan’s Taro Daniel, whom he will face in the quarterfinals in Belgrade.
Also Read: Should ATP, WTA, and players boycott Wimbledon 2022 after it crosses discrimination limits?
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Atrayo Bhattacharya
(193 Articles Published)