Wimbledon looks set to lift its ban on players from Russia and Belarus for this summer’s tournament.
While the All England Club has not made an official decision over the eligibility of players from both countries competing at its Grand Slam, it is thought that behind closed doors it has performed a U-turn.
Last year, the likes of Russian Daniil Medvedev and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka were blocked from competing at the tournament in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Wimbledon and other British grasscourt tournaments proved an outlier in that stance and had their ranking points removed, while the LTA was fined £1.4million by the ATP and WTA Tours.
There are still expected to be restrictions on Russian and Belarusian players during the two-week tournament including competing as neutral athletes.
In a statement, the All England Club, which is not expected to make an official decision until next month, said: “We are continuing to work very closely with the UK Government and stakeholders in tennis on this matter. We have not yet made a decision on entries for the championships 2023.”
On the eve of competing at Indian Wells later on Thursday, Andy Murray said he was already anticipating Wimbledon’s change of position.
“It’s a really difficult one and I do feel for the players who weren’t able to play last year,” he told the BBC. “But I also understand the situation and why it’s really hard for Wimbledon to make a call on it as well.
“My understanding is that they are going to be allowed to play and I’m not going to be going nuts if that is the case. But if Wimbledon went down another route, I would be understanding of that.”
Britain has a strong contingent of players with Murray, Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper all in action on Thursday. Draper faces a possible third-round clash against Murray.
Emma Raducanu is also scheduled to play for the first time since the Australian Open in January. But the Briton had heavy strapping on both wrists during practice at the event on Wednesday.
She said: “The same issue that I had last year has started to flare back up. I’ve definitely been managing my load. It’s something that has come back so I’m trying to be as cautious as possible.
“I’m going to do everything I can to be there tomorrow. I think we always play through pain and it’s just a matter of how much you can take. I’m looking forward to hopefully going out there tomorrow.”
