Wimbledon - According to Djokovic, a crazy decision was made

The hosts announced the move on Wednesday, which affects, among others, tennis players such as Danyil Medvedev of Russia, second in the ATP rankings, or Arina Szabalenka of Belarus, fourth in the women's category. The organizers of the grass court Grand Slam tournament, which will take place between June 27 and July 10, are the first in the sport to ban individual players from the two countries. After the outbreak of the war, the Russian and Belarusian national teams were excluded from international competitions, but until now the players could participate in the tournaments individually, although they could not use the flag of their country.

Djokovic, who grew up in war-torn Serbia, said athletes can't do anything about the military conflict.

"I will always condemn war, I will never support it, I myself am a child of war," said the world number one competing in his home tournament in Belgrade. "I know the emotional upheaval, the traumas it causes. In Serbia, we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans, we had several wars recently. At the same time, I do not support the Wimbledon decision, I think it is crazy. It will not result in anything good if politics interferes in sports."

The All England Lawn Tennis Club's (AELTC) announcement on Wednesday was criticized by the WTA and ATP, which organize the women's and men's tournaments.

The AELTC stated: if the circumstances change by June, it will reconsider and, if necessary, amend the decision.

The Ukrainian's best, among women, is currently 25. Elina Svitolina has voiced her opinion that the affected players who condemn the Russian invasion should be allowed to compete in Wimbledon. The tennis player softened his previous opinion somewhat, because on Wednesday he spoke in favor of a complete ban.

"We don't want them to ban everybody," he told the BBC on Thursday. with the Russian government. For me, that's the most important thing."

Svitolina, whose friends and relatives are still in Ukraine, believes that Russian and Belarusian tennis players must do more than before.

In February, Medvedev called for peace on Twitter, while his compatriot Andrey Rublev wrote "No war" on television after one of his matches in Dubai.

"I can count on one hand the Russian and Belarusian players who have asked me how I am, how my family is, is everyone safe," Svitolina continued. what they have done so far."

The Ukrainian tennis player announced at the end of March that he was taking a break from his career due to physical and mental stress. As he said, he has been struggling with a back injury for a long time, and from a psychological point of view, the fact that war broke out in his country is taking a toll on him.

(Source: Source: sportrajongo.hu, mti/Photo: pixabay)