Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev has called for unity among the sport's major bodies and urged tournament officials to work alongside lawmakers in order to avoid 'destroying tennis.'
Rublev, 24, is one of those athletes from Russia and Belarus who will be banned from Wimbledon this year as a result of the former's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In response to the All England Club 's decision to restrict players from those countries, the ATP opted to strip SW19 of its ranking points.
It continues a disjointed year of tennis that was already rocked by Novak Djokovic 's expulsion from the Australian Open over his Covid-19 vaccine stance. Some high-profile players are now understood to be considering boycotting Wimbledon, but Rublev said the "toxic relationship" between them and the ATP is futile.
"I will be honest," Rublev told reporters after beating Soon-woo Kwon in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday. "Wimbledon [broke their] agreement with the ATP, that's the first thing. When you have a deal, you cannot break it, and they did.
"And I think it's more to show tournaments cannot do whatever they want, it's more about teamwork. Tennis, in my opinion, is the only sport where we need tournaments to work together, and tournaments need players to work together. And when we have a toxic relationship like now, only bad things can happen."
He then hinted at a more drastic void between Grand Slam tournaments and the major tennis bodies, suggesting the current tensions could lead to a breakaway competition. But Rublev encouraged those in power to find solutions to their current disagreement in order to preserve the sport's history.
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"And even if Wimbledon [allied with] another Slam to try and create another Tour, it will only destroy tennis," added the world No. 7. "It will destroy the glory of tennis [that's been built for many, many hundreds of years]."
Rublev referred to the successes of men's tennis' revered trinity - Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Djokovic - who boast a combined haul of 61 Grand Slam titles. "Now, all the success of tennis is because of these three players," he said, although Rublev did also acknowledge the feats of past generations.
It was at the beginning of Russia's siege on Ukraine in February that Rublev protested in favour of peace, but denouncing President Vladimir Putin could have consequences for loved ones still in Russia. Putting an end to the war should be considered the first step towards restoring order in sport, with further disruptions to the tennis calendar likely to follow the longer it endures.
