‘No sense in this decision,’ Paula Badosa slams AELTC for banning Russian athletes from Wimbledon, condemns the mixing of politics with sports
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Paula Badosa
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has had a huge impact on the world in every aspect. Even the sporting world has been affected by it, including tennis. Initially, the governing bodies decided to allow Russian and Belarussian athletes to compete but they were allowed to compete only after scrapping their flags.
But to everyone’s surprise, Wimbledon, a few days ago, decided to ban Russian and Belarussian athletes from competing this year. The decision hasn’t been taken well in general as people have argued that banning athletes for a cause that they don’t stand for is unfair. Many players across the ATP and WTA circuits have condemned Wimbledon’s decision.
World No.2 Paula Badosa, ahead of the Madrid Open, opined her thoughts about the issue and said that there is no sense in the decision. She added that one shouldn’t mix politics with sports, especially in an individual sport like tennis.
“For me, there is no sense in this decision. War is something very strong, which should not be, but mixing politics with sports, especially tennis, in which we play with our flag, but representing our name, seems dishonest to me. This is not our fault,” Badosa said.
‘I understand more and more Ashleigh Barty’s decision to end her career’: Paula Badosa
Badosa was the second seed at the Madrid Open but lost her second-round match to former World No.1 Simona Halep in straight sets 3-6,1-6 on Saturday. The Spaniard talked about the demands contemporary tennis requires and the weight of expectations a top player has.
Badosa said: “Now I understand more and more Ashleigh Barty’s decision to end her career. Playing in the women’s tour is very difficult, every week you are required to be as ready as possible. At every big and important tournament, you start from scratch and you need to try to reach the final, especially if you are high in the rankings and everyone expects results from you.”
“This is a lot of stress during many weeks of competition. It is very difficult, but I try to adapt and regulate myself and my team in order to keep the situation under control,” she said.
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Lakshya Chopra
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