It’s our job to defend Russian and Belarusian players banned from Wimbledon: Nadal

Rafa Nadal said that it was his, and the rest of the ATP Player Council’s, job to defend Russian and Belarusian players who have been banned from this year’s Wimbledon.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) barred players from the two countries from competing at this year’s grass court major in response to what Russia calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Belarus has been a key staging area for the invasion.

Responding to reports that the player’s council have asked for the tournament’s ranking points to be stripped, Nadal said that it was the organisation’s job to protect every player.

“There are some private conversations on the council about this kind of stuff,” the 21-times major winner Nadal told reporters at the Italian Open.

“All we can do is be in touch with Wimbledon and with the rest of the ATP management to do the things that works better to protect every single player in the ATP. At the end that’s our job, to protect the players and to work in the benefit of every single player that we are representing.”

The AELTC’s decision has been condemned by both the men’s and women’s tours as well as several other players.
World number one Novak Djokovic, who has also criticised the ban, said recently that he had spoken to Russian players and it was tough for them to be excluded from the tournament.