This year's Wimbledon Championships will have a unique feel amid the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes, but Tim Henman is confident the major's status will make it a blockbuster event.
Certain stars have raised concerns with the All England Club 's decision to block players from the aforementioned countries. The ATP and WTA have since responded by deciding players will not earn ranking points at SW19 this year, removing a lot of the incentive for many stars to compete.
Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka is among the latter group, having said she's "not 100 per cent sure" she'll compete in London this year. The Japanese talent—who is 38th in the WTA rankings—has said she's 'motivated by seeing her rankings go up.'
French challenger Lucas Pouille was among the first players to hint he'll boycott the tournament due to the lowered rewards on offer. However, Henman believes the honour of competing at SW19 will be sufficient to ensure the competition has its usual star-studded field.
"This whole scenario around Russian and Belarusian players being refused entry into Wimbledon is such a difficult situation and it's really unfortunate for all parties involved," the former British No. 1 told Eurosport on Monday.
"I don't think players will end up skipping the Championships. A Wimbledon title is going to be about a lot more than the ranking points. It's a difficult situation. Hopefully the history and the prestige is going to be at the forefront of players' minds so they are going to be ready and raring to compete on the grass."
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Osaka, 24, has never advanced beyond the third round at Wimbledon, and so it's perhaps understandable she's tempted to concentrate her efforts on other tournaments. However, her statement could have an impact in deterring others from attending.
Former world No. 1 Mats Wilander sympathised with Osaka's stance, suggesting certain players may not attend if they feel they have a shot of winning. However, there are those who can "hope to get a good draw and make the fourth round," but even many of those would-be hopefuls may now be turned off.
"But then there's a lot of players that are absolutely never going to miss Wimbledon," added the Swede. "But it's going to be interesting to see for sure. I will respect players that don't go... Ranking, for a lot of players, is as important as winning big tournaments."
