“Our job is to protect every single player,” Rafael Nadal sticks by his words regarding the Wimbledon ranking row despite backlash from eminent politicians
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Rafael Nadal
After the tournament excluded Russian and Belarusian players, Rafael Nadal has refused to reveal the ATP Player Council’s decision on any sanctions. It comes after Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were warned to “come clean” about their role in the ATP’s intentions to penalise Wimbledon while the men’s competition is in Rome. The men’s tour looks set to strip all ranking points from Wimbledon, turning it into a glorified exhibition, but the two-time former champion in SW19 refused to disclose the council’s decision on Wednesday. “I don’t have a clear opinion on the matter and I don’t want to declare anything. There are some private conversations in the council about this kind of stuff and honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary to go public,” he said after his win over John Isner at the Italian Open.
“All we can do is be in touch with Wimbledon and the ATP management to do the things that work better, to protect every single player because in the end, it’s our job to protect the players and to work for the benefit of every single player that we are representing. “I don’t know what’s fair, nothing is perfect. When things like these happen, nothing will be perfect. And my personal opinion, I have already said it and at the end, it’s about the tour and not my opinion,” The 21-Grand-Slam champion went on to add.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were told to ‘come clean’ over their role in opposing the Wimbledon ban
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been told to “come clean” as the ATP move to strip Wimbledon of its ranking points in response to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players. The two former world No one’s sit on the ATP Player Council, which has been in favour of heavily sanctioning the All England Club.
After a series of meetings in Madrid and Rome, the ATP is expected to publish its sanctions on Wimbledon soon, with the men’s tour’s representatives vehemently opposing the blanket ban on players from Russia and Belarus. While the All England Club awaits the ATP’s verdict, an MP has slammed Federer and Nadal, telling them to reveal their roles in the Wimbledon punishments as members of the Player Council. The chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia, Chris Bryant MP, told The Telegraph, “Federer and Nadal should come clean.”
“Do they want Vladimir Putin to fail or don’t they care?” he added. A new ATP meeting will take place on Wednesday during the Rome Masters, with the possibility of a vote on the sanctions, followed by any decision, and the men’s tour is expected to heavily rely on the opinions of the 10-man Player Council, which represents the players who will be affected by the ban.
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Pritha Ghosh
(414 Articles Published)