Medvedev's No.1 joy marred by ban threat

Moscovite Daniil Medvedev reached the pinnacle of men's tennis when he became the ATP's world No.1 on Monday but what should have been a day of pride for Russian sport has been engulfed by the growing consequences of the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Medvedev is only the third Russian man to head the standings and the first player outside the so-called "big four" of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray to hold the top spot in 18 years.

But with the sporting world uniting its in condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Medvedev's meteoric rise to the top could hardly have happened at a worse time for tennis.

On Sunday the Ukrainian Tennis Federation urged the sport's governing body, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), to immediately expel Russia and Belarus from the organisation and ban Russia from team and individual tournaments.

In a letter seen by Reuters, the Ukrainian federation described the actions of Russia and Belarus in Ukraine over the past four days as "unprecedented, cynical and bloody".

"Civilians are dying, including women and children; civilian infrastructure is collapsing ... This is a full-scale war that will push our country back decades," the letter said, adding that the goal of Russia's invasion was "extermination."

"Russia and Belarus do not have the right not only to hold international competitions on their territory, but also to participate in all ITF team and individual tournaments abroad," the letter continued.

Ukrainian Tennis Federation board member Seva Kevlych, talking to Reuters from Kharkiv on Monday, said Medvedev and other Russian players should be barred from Grand Slam tournaments and the Russian Tennis Federation barred from the Davis Cup and Billie