Raphael does not condemn either side
Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal spoke about the removal of Russian players by the organizers Wimbledonand also reacted to the decision of the ATP in this regard not to award rating points for performance in the tournament.
“Firstly, the tennis world is nothing. Just zero, compared to when you see a lot of families, children who die and suffer. Other things just don’t matter. It doesn’t matter that Wimbledon did one or the other, or that the ATP made this or that decision. What matters, the real tragedy is what [в Украине] people die and many families suffer, this is the main thing – the rest does not matter, ”Nadal said.
“But, of course, if you ask me about Wimbledon’s position, in my humble opinion, I understand what they did, I respect this decision. Because this is something that, in my opinion, is understandable, because to some extent they are under pressure from the authorities, they have their own point of view.”
“But from the ATP side, they have to protect their players too. It’s not that Wimbledon did something terrible and the ATP made the right decision. I think both solutions are acceptable. Everyone is protecting their own interests, and I respect both of these decisions. One is not better than the other, but in this case, I have colleagues from the tour that I know well, who, to be honest, cannot say much frankly. Medvedev and others? They are definitely not involved with the war, they can’t do anything about it and they don’t support it.”
In June, Rafael Nadal won Roland Garros by beating Norway’s Kasper Ruud 6:3, 6:3, 6:0 in the final of the tournament.
Earlier, the organizers of Wimbledon issued a statement amid the decision of the ATP, WTA and ITF not to award rating points for participating in the tournament. The British noted that Russia regularly uses athletes for propaganda purposes.
In April, the British Tennis Association (LTA) suspended Russian and Belarusian players from this year’s grass tournaments due to a full-blown Russian-backed invasion of Ukraine.
Wimbledon starts June 27th. The reigning singles champions are Novak Djokovic and Ashleigh Barty, who previously announced her retirement from tennis.
Source: Sportarena
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