Wimbledon: Game, set and war
"I've always said my idea is not to mix sport and politics." One of those classic sportsman sentences echoed through press conference room one at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club over the weekend - pronounced by Ons Jabeur. The number two in the world rankings has brought tennis to a whole new level of attention in her Tunisian homeland and on the African continent, where she is heard. With this sentence, the 27-year-old ignored the fact that sport, like all other areas of life, is always political. Even before Wimbledon, professional tennis had seen two sensational sports-political incidents this year: Novak Đoković's expulsion from Australia and the withdrawal of the WTA women's tour from China after the Peng Shuai case.
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Another of her sentences, which revolved around the latest tennis policy issue, the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players, summed up the mood of many players before the tournament in Wimbledon that started on Monday: "The players from Russia and Belarus are not allowed play and we don't get world ranking points. No one gets anything from it." At least until the first balls are hit, Wimbledon is less about sport and more about politics. Those responsible had decided to go it alone in the spring because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine : no Russian athletes! They were able to decide that because the four Grand Slam tournaments are not organized by the professional tours ATP and WTA, but by the world association ITF.
They don't want a Russian winner on Church Road
Wimbledon is also the only one of the four major tournaments that is not organized by the national association, but by its own elite club. Officially, none of those responsible on Church Road want to put it on record these days, but it can be heard on every corner: the decision was made in very close consultation with the government. In addition, the idea that a member of the British royal family would have to hand over the winner's trophy to a Russian athlete on the final weekend during a Russian war of aggression was unbearable from a sports policy point of view.
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No utopian idea: With Daniil Medvedev, number one in the world rankings has now been ruled out. The women's team is missing Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, who was eliminated in the semi-finals in London in 2021. The exclusion affects a total of 16 players.
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The decision of those responsible has caused a lot of criticism for months. Rafael Nadal recently spoke up. "It's very unfair to my colleagues. What can the poor do for it?" Asked the record Grand Slam winner. Other professionals had also criticized the exclusion.
Athletes with Russian roots or place of residence in Russia, like the Kazakhs Alexander Bublik, Elena Rybakina or Julija Putinseva are still serving. After the start of the war, the Russian doubles specialist Natela Dsalamidse used her Georgian passport, which was also valid, and changed her nationality in accordance with the rules. The 29-year-old told Deutsche Welle: "I don't want to make any excuses for what's happening in Ukraine, but for us athletes it's very unfair to experience the general prejudices. At first I was ashamed of having a Russian passport own." After a while, she questioned it: "I'm a good person, why do I get this feeling? I've worked hard as an athlete for many years to achieve my goals, and because of a decision to start something terrible, I've lost my life and forget my career?"
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Unlike in most other sports, the ban at the highest tennis level is initially limited to Wimbledon. Those responsible for the US Open have already announced that athletes will be allowed to play under a neutral flag in August. Far away from the big tennis stage, however, many experience unusual restrictions. The Latvian Tennis Federation removed all registered Russian and Belarusian players from the registration list for a smaller ITF tournament in July without warning. The WTA boss Steve Simon has now asked the world association ITF to allow the affected players to participate in comparable events regardless of their ranking.
Anastasia Gassanova says that on an individual level, it is very difficult for Russian women from the second row this year. Number 135 in the world rankings says: "Apart from the tour, this year it was difficult if not impossible for us Russian players to get contracts or agreements with clubs from France or Germany for league games or show fights like in previous years." Her colleague Natela Dsalamidze tells of players who played for the same club for many years, won games, developed personal ties and were suddenly unwanted.
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Former Ukrainian tennis pro Sergei Stachowski, on the other hand, praised Wimbledon's decision and called for more toughness from other associations. In 2013 he surprisingly beat the great Roger Federer in round two, meanwhile he is helping to defend his country from Kyiv. He told the Süddeutsche Zeitung, none of the Russian players really made their position clear. "The strongest position they took was, 'No war, please!' Or: 'Stop the war!' What does that mean? If Ukraine stops shooting, we will be slaughtered, murdered, Ukraine's existence will be wiped out. But should Russia stop shelling and withdraw from the border, it would be over.
As long as none of the Russian professionals realize that says nothing will change," he said. It's not about punishing the players, but the government. Because sport at the moment of success is nothing more than Russian propaganda. So banning Russian athletes is not aimed at the athletes. "Russians in sport should be banned at every level. Then if they were all in Russia.
Regarding Stachowski's statements, Novak Djokovic said: "I've known Sergei for a long time and we've had some exchanges lately. I understand the frustration of him and the people of Ukraine, but I won't comment and I'm caught between the fronts of the push war." However, Đoković explained what he felt from his own experience of several wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and a four-year ban on domestic athletes. "I can't totally agree that they should be suspended indefinitely across all sports. I don't see how that should be good for anything that's happening in Ukraine. They deserve to play. No tennis player supported the war."
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