Wimbledon has its ranking points stripped by ATP and WTA

Wimbledon has had its ranking points stripped by the ATP and WTA in response to barring Russian and Belarusian players from this summer's Grand Slam.

Russian and Belarusian players were last month banned from competing at this year's Wimbledon due to the invasion of Ukraine, a decision which both the WTA and ATP criticised.

Wimbledon chairman Ian Hewitt said the UK Government had left them with "no viable alternative" but to ban Russian and Belarusian players from this year's Championships.

Hewitt said the club was left with only two options - an outright ban or forcing players to sign declarations condemning the invasion of Ukraine.

Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have all spoken out against the ban.

"The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour," the ATP said in a statement.

"The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the UK this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP Ranking system. It is also inconsistent with our Rankings agreement.

"Absent a change in circumstances, it is with great regret and reluctance that we see no option but to remove ATP Ranking points from Wimbledon for 2022."

The statement continued: "Our rules and agreements exist in order to protect the rights of players as a whole. Unilateral decisions of this nature, if unaddressed, set a damaging precedent for the rest of the Tour. Discrimination by individual tournaments is simply not viable on a Tour that operates in more than 30 countries.

"We greatly value our long-standing relationships with Wimbledon and the LTA and do not underestimate the difficult decisions faced in responding to