Andy Murray backed in Wimbledon row but tennis fans split over John McEnroe verdict

Express Sport readers have sided with Andy Murray, but are split over John McEnroe's opinion, as debate continues to rage in the Wimbledon row over whether Russian and Belarusian players should have been banned, and whether the ATP were right to strip the tournament of ranking points in response.

Murray insists the iconic grass-court Grand Slam will "never" be an exhibition despite there being no points on offer, while McEnroe believes there should not have been anyone banned from SW19. Wimbledon said in a statement in late April that "with deep regret" and "sadness" Russians and Belarusians would be banned, saying: "We do not believe it is viable to proceed on any other basis at the Championships."

But the ATP, the governing body of men's tennis, insisted "with great regret and reluctance" that they would be taking away points, insisting that banning players "undermines" the ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments on merit and without discrimination. Both the decisions of Wimbledon and the ATP have caused great debate.

Express Sport readers, voting in our latest poll, sided with Murray that the reputation of Wimbledon is not impacted by the lack of points on offer and 60 per cent voted that players are wrong to skip the major as a result.

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Murray wrote on Twitter: "I'd hazard a guess that most people watching on centre court Wimbledon in a few weeks' time wouldn't know or care about how many ranking points a player gets for winning a third-round match. But I guarantee they will remember who wins. Wimbledon will never be an exhibition and will never feel like an exhibition. The end."

But the two-time Wimbledon champion