On April 20, British local time, the news that Russian and Belarusian players who had previously been banned from playing in the Australian Open had an official answer today. The All England Club issued an official statement making it clear that Wimbledon would ban athletes from both countries from participating this year. Wimbledon's decision set a precedent in tennis, as no tennis tournament has ever been completely banned from a particular country or region.
In an official statement, the All England Club said that given Wimbledon's popularity in the UK and around the world, it was the official responsibility of the tournament to play their part. In the face of unreasonable aggression, the participation of Russian and Belarusian players in this year's Wimbledon is not accepted.
At the same time, the All England Club called for the entire British grass season in June to ban players from both countries to keep English tennis consistent throughout the summer.
However, the All England club also pointed out in the statement that if the situation changes significantly between now and June, they will reconsider and respond accordingly.
According to this week's world rankings, after The Wimbledon announcement, there will be a number of tennis stars from both countries who will not qualify for this year's Wimbledon. These include the men's singles world No. 2 Medvedev, another top ten players Rublev, Kachanov, Karatsev and Ivaszka, and the women's singles include Sabalenka, Azarenka and 11 others, including Pavlyuchenkova, Kasakina, Kudmetova and Sasnovic, who will not be eligible to compete. In addition, in the men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles events, there will also be a number of players from both countries who will not have the opportunity to play.