Reigning US Open champion Daniil Medvedev has said he will take his season ‘tournament by tournament’ as he shrugs off talk of a potential ban on Russian players at this year’s Wimbledon Championships.
Earlier this month British lawmakers discussed entry requirements for Russian athletes competing in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which began on February 24th. Sports minister Nigel Huddleston told the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee there is is possible that those athletes would only be allowed to compete if there are not supporters of president Vladamir Puitin. Although it is unclear as to how such a rule would be implemented.
Medvedev, as well as others such as Andrey Rublev, has previously called for peace in the region. However, they have not condemned the war itself. In Russia thousands have been arrested for anti-war protests, according to both the interior Ministry and the independent protest monitor OVD-info.
Questioned about the prospect of a possible ban from SW19 if he didn’t criticize president Putin ahead of the Miami Open, Medvedev shrugged off the threat and refused to get drawn into the debate.
“Don’t have any response to Wimbledon,” AFP quoted Medvedev as saying. “I will need to see what happens next.
“I try to take it tournament by tournament. I mean, there are always different rules, regulations in order to play or not to play.
“Right now I’m here in Miami. I can play and I’m happy to play tennis, the sport I love. I want to promote the sport all over the world. We’ll have tough moments and good moments.
“That’s going to be the same with every tournament. So the next one after this one is Monte-Carlo, you know, where at this moment I’m a resident there, so I love this tournament also. I can play it normally and I’m happy to play it.”
In response to the war, Tennis’ governing bodies have already taken their own measures. Russian and Belarussian players must now play as neutral athletes for the foreseeable future. The two federations have also been suspended from team competitions by the ITF. Belarus is also suspended due to their support of Russia.
Should the worst case scenario occur and British lawmakers implement their no-Putin supporters rule, it appears that Medvedev would accept such a ban.The world No.2 has never publicly said if he supports his country’s president but rather have such conversations with his own family.
“Every country can set their own rules,” he said. “Maybe tomorrow somebody’s gonna announce, I don’t know, that we don’t want any more tennis tournaments.
“Say one country has a Grand Slam, and maybe some other Masters events are gonna say ‘We don’t want any more tennis in our country.’ That’s how life is.
“It’s very tough in life to talk about what is fair and not fair. So I of course do have my own opinions on different topics, but I prefer to speak about them with my family, with my wife, where we can sometimes disagree but we can discuss.
“It’s much easier when you have a dialogue about this.”
Medvedev returns to action this week at the Miami Open where he is the top seed. He could reclaim the world No.1 spot in Miami but to do so he will need to reach at least the semi-final stage.
He will start his campaign against Andy Murray.
