The ATP and WTA has stripped Wimbledon of its ranking points after Russian and Belarusian players were banned from competing at the tournament.
Wimbledon took the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players last month following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At the time, Wimbledon chief Ian Hewitt said the UK Government had left the with "no viable alternative".
He said: "The UK Government has set out directive guidance for sporting bodies and events in the UK with the specific aim of limiting Russia's influence. We understand and deeply regret the impact this will have on all the people affected. We believe we have made the most responsible decision possible. We believe (given Government guidance) there is no viable alternative in this truly exceptional and tragic situation."
The decision was criticised by both the ATP and the WTA and the former governing body confirmed in a statement that Wimbledon has been stripped of ranking points. The organisation said: "The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour."
And the WTA swiftly followed, with chairman Steve Simon saying: "The recent decisions made by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to ban athletes from competing in the upcoming UK grass-court events violate that fundamental principle, which is clearly embodied in the WTA rules, the Grand Slam rules and the agreement the WTA has with the Grand Slams.
"As a result of the AELTC's position that it will not honour its obligation to use the WTA Rankings for entry into Wimbledon and proceed with a partial field not based on merit, the WTA has made the difficult decision to not award WTA ranking points for this year's Wimbledon Championships.
"In addition, each of the WTA-sanctioned events (Nottingham, Birmingham, and Eastbourne) will be penalised and their WTA tournament sanctions will be placed on probation. Since alternative and comparable playing and ranking point opportunities exist in the same weeks as those events for the affected players, WTA ranking points will remain in place for those events."
The ITF also confirmed that Wimbledon has been stripped of ranking points for the junior and wheelchair tennis events. "This difficult decision has been taken as a protective measure that upholds the principles of open entry to international competition based on merit and protects the integrity of ITF international tennis competitions," an ITF statement read. "The ITF's position remains that Russian and Belarusian athletes remain eligible to participate as neutral athletes."
However, British number two Dan Evans has criticised the decision, insisting: "We should be playing for ranking points at Wimbledon and it will be disappointing for me as a Brit if we're not. If we're sticking it solely on tennis and not politics there should be points for Wimbledon.
"It is unfortunate for the players who can't play but there are bigger things happening which seems to be getting overlooked by the ATP here. I think the majority of the players think it is not ideal the other players can’t play but there should still be points at Wimbledon.
"In my opinion they are only trying to protect the Russian players by not letting them play. There are a lot of other people losing out because of a very small minority of players who are missing the tournament."
