The world’s best tennis players are on court at the 2022 French Open, the first grand slam since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February. Unlike Wimbledon 2022, the French Open has decided to let Russian and Belarusian players compete.
The French Open decision is in line with other tennis tournaments since the Russian invasion, which have allowed Russian and Belarusian players to participate. This outcome may partly be due to the backlash from players and from the governing body of world tennis the International Tennis Federation (ITF), after the All England Lawn and Tennis Club (AELTC) and the Lawn Tennis Association banned Russian and Belarusian players from competing in all of the British grass court tournaments in 2022, including the third grand slam of the year, the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, England.
The French Open organisers agreed that individual athletes from Russia and Belarus could compete without flags or national anthems. French tennis federation president Gilles Moretton said:
