Angry Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev hits out at Wimbledon chiefs over 2022 ban

Andrey Rublev has hit out at Wimbledon chiefs for their 2022 ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

The Russian world No.8 was unable to compete at this year’s Championships after the All England Club decided to stop players from Russia and Belarus competing amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The call, which meant world No.1 Daniil Medvedev also could not play, was a controversial one and split opinion, resulting in the ATP and WTA stripping the major tournament of its ranking points.

Some players labelled this year’s Wimbledon an ‘exhibition’ and there was more controversy when Russian-born Elena Rybakina won the women’s singles title.

Rybakina, who has represented Kazakhstan for the last four years, faced persistent questioning over her Russian roots having represented the country from 2013-2018 with the Russian Tennis Federation labelling her ‘our product’ after her win.

Rublev, who went viral for writing ‘no war please’ on a camera at this year’s Dubai Tennis Championships, feels that the ban should not have been placed and says that he even suggested ‘solutions’ which would have involved Ukrainian players.

‘We offered some solutions that could be really helpful diplomatically – playing in mixed doubles with Ukrainians or not coming for the medals,’ Rublev said.

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‘We wanted to use the platform of a championship to show that we don’t fight here, that there is no war in tennis. It’s most important now.

‘Everyone is working as hard as possible and attending other tournaments just to get to the four Grand Slams and show their best. Of course, I