Record 21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal said he understands Wimbledon’s position but also added he understands why the ATP decided to impose such a harsh sanction on The Championships. What had been speculated for weeks, became a reality when Wimbledon last month officially imposed player bans on Russian and Belarusian players.
Shortly after the Wimbledon announcement was made, someone leaked that the ATP had been considering removing points from 2022 Wimbledon. On Friday, the ATP announced no ranking points will be awarded to 2022 Wimbledon participants.
Both the ATP and WTA were not happy with the decision Wimbledon made and they warned Wimbledon to expect a harsh sanction. “I understand both sides. I respect and I understand Wimbledon’s position, without a doubt, but in the other hand, I understand and I respect too that the ATP is protecting their members,” Nadal said, per Gaspar Ribeiro Lanca.
“In our tour, every single player has a different opinion and that’s why we never achieve the things that we could achieve if we were together. In my opinion we players are not prepared well enough to make important decisions, because at the end it is an individual sport and everyone has their personal views in terms of how much profit they get from every single decision that ATP makes.”
Nadal on the Wimbledon situation: “I understand both sides. I respect and I understand Wimbledon’s position, without a doubt, but in the other hand, I understand and I respect too that the ATP is protecting their members.”
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) May 23, 2022
More from Nadal: “In our tour, every single player has a different opinion and that’s why we never achieve the things that we could achieve if we were together.”
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) May 23, 2022
Nadal: “In my opinion we players are not prepared well enough to make important decisions, because at the end it is an individual sport and everyone has their personal views in terms of how much profit they get from every single decision that ATP makes.”
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) May 23, 2022
Nadla hasn’t played Wimbledon since 2019
Wimbledon didn’t take place in 2020 because of the pandemic but Nadal also didn’t participate at The Championships last year.
Novak Djokovic will be the one that will be affected the most by the Wimbledon decision as he is the defending champion and he is set to lose 2,000 points following the ATP sanction. On the other side, Nadal won’t be affected since he doesn’t have a single point to defend at Wimbledon.
Some fear top players might decide to skip Wimbledon and focus on the North American hard court swing. It remains to be seen if Nadal will decide to play at Wimbledon this year.
