Home

Medvedev still hoping to play Wimbledon

Staff WritersReuters
Russian Daniil Medvedev says he's still not ruled out the prospect of playing at Wimbledon.
Camera IconRussian Daniil Medvedev says he's still not ruled out the prospect of playing at Wimbledon. Credit: AP

World No.2 Daniil Medvedev has still not given up hope of competing at Wimbledon next month.

The decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from taking part at the world's most celebrated tennis event was taken due to the invasion of Ukraine.

The decision was swiftly condemned by the men's and women's tours and a number of players, with Rafael Nadal calling the ruling "unfair".

Over the past week, there have also been suggestions that Wimbledon could be stripped of its ranking points by the ATP and WTA if the ban remains in force, effectively reducing the world's biggest tournament to an exhibition event.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

"I tried to follow what's happening because I don't have any decisions to make. It's right now about Wimbledon itself, the ATP, maybe the British government is involved," Medvedev said on Sunday.

"It's a tricky situation and like every situation in life, you ask 100 players, everybody's going to give a different opinion.

The Game AFL 2024

"(When) you show a tennis ball to 100 people, I'm sure some of them are going to say it's green and not yellow. I think it's yellow. But if somebody tells me it's green, I'm not going to get in conflict with this person."

Medvedev will be returning to action in Geneva after spending the last six weeks recovering from a hernia operation.

Having lost in the Australian Open final to Nadal in January, he missed the beginning of the European clay-court season as he had to skip events in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome while he recovered fitness.

US Open champion Medvedev said he remained hopeful that the All England Club might make a late U-turn on its decision.

"I don't know if this decision is 100% and it's over (for me)," he said.

"If I can play, I'm going to be happy to play in Wimbledon. I love this tournament.

"If I cannot play, well I'm going to try to play other tournaments and prepare well for next year if I have the chance to play."

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails