Novak Djokovic shared the opinion of great rival Rafael Nadal regarding the ban of Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon this year. Due to President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, punishments have been inflicted on certain sections of the sporting world in response.
But this particular sanction has been met largely with opposition, and two of tennis’ greatest players have condemned the decision. “I have spoken to some of the Russian players in Belgrade, and, obviously it's not an easy situation to be in, stripped away the right to participate in one of the biggest tournaments if not the biggest tournament in the world,” Djokovic said ahead of his appearance at next week's Madrid Open.
“It's hard. I understand that there is frustration. The ATP is going to analyse the whole situation and understand what can be done. I have not spoken to people from ATP, so I'm not sure about it.” The world number one likened the situation to his own predicament in Australia earlier this year, which saw him deported and unable to compete in the Australian Open due to his unvaccinated status.
“Going through something similar, let's say, it's not the same thing, but going through something similar earlier this year for myself, it's frustrating knowing that you're not able to play,” the Serbian added. “I still stand by my position that I don't support the decision. I think it's just not fair, it's not right, but it is what it is.”
Following the shock announcement by the All England Club, the ATP and WTA are considering preserving the rankings of the Russian and Belarusian tennis players prevented from competing. Both tours are holding meetings in Madrid to decide the next steps, with the possibility of removing ranking points from Wimbledon also on the table.
“They are entitled to make the decision, and now I guess it's on the Player Council, the tour management, to really decide along with the players what is the best solution in this situation, whether they keep the points, protect the points, take away 50% of the points or whatever,” Djokovic commented. “We have had in the last couple of years, because of Corona, some reduction on points, and different models were implemented that were not implemented before because of Corona in order to allow players not to play if they don't want to play but still have their points. So I heard that some of those models are still considered to be used in this kind of instance, but I'm not sure what is right, what is wrong, to be honest. I guess we'll have to wait and see the outcome.”
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Ahead of his return to the tour following a rib injury, Nadal shared his thoughts on the decision that rocked the tennis world. "I think it’s very unfair (on) my Russian tennis mates, my colleagues. It’s not their fault what’s happening in this moment with the war,” the 21-time grand slam champion told reporters in Madrid. “The 2,000 points, whenever we go to the Grand Slams, they are really important and we have to go to those tournaments. So we will have to see the measures that we take.
“At the end of the day, what happens in our game, it doesn’t have any importance when we can see so many people dying and suffering and seeing the bad situation they are having in Ukraine.”
The Spaniard will play his first tournament since losing his first match of the season to Taylor Fritz in the Indian Wells final back in March.
While Nadal was gutted to miss the start of the clay court season, he has returned fit, motivated and excited to play in front of his home fans once again, with his campaign set to commence on Tuesday. “Talking about the injury, I’m recovered, I feel good. Talking about my tennis game and preparations, well, it’s a completely different story,” he shared.
“Anyone who has broken a rib knows how limiting it is, very painful, especially the first weeks. I wasn’t able to do anything without a lot of difficulties, even to fall asleep because of the pain. I have improved compared to when I came here but I still have up and downs because it’s been a long time without being in these kind of situations and it’s going to be a difficult week, for sure.”
