Wimbledon: ATP strips tennis tournament of ranking points for banning Russian and Belarusian players | World News

Wimbledon has been stripped of its world ranking points in response to organisers banning Russian and Belarusian players from competing at this year’s tournament.

The ATP, which governs the men’s game, said Wimbledon’s move undermines the principle of players qualifying on merit and without discrimination, and was “inconsistent” with its rankings agreement.

It said it had acted with “great regret and reluctance”, but that “discrimination by individual tournaments is simply not viable on a Tour that operates in more than 30 countries”.

The world’s most famous tennis tournament announced the ban in April due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Players affected include US Open men’s champion Daniil Medvedev and highly-ranked women’s player Aryna Sabalenka.

Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are among those who have criticised the ban.

The ATP said its support for Ukraine remained “unequivocal” and that it hoped talks could be held with Wimbledon to achieve “an acceptable outcome for all concerned”.

The All England Club, which organises the event, said last month that it recognised its decision would be “hard” on some players and that it was “with sadness that they will suffer for the actions of the leaders of the Russian regime”.

To date, Russian and Belarusian athletes have been permitted to continue playing in ATP, WTA and ITF competitions as long as they do so under a neutral flag and with no anthem played.

The WTA, which runs the women’s game, has also previously said it was “very disappointed” by Wimbledon’s decision.

The event begins on 27 June and concludes on 10 July.