Former seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe thinks Wimbledon made a mistake by imposing player bans on Russian and Belarusian players and suggested the players should boycott the tournament if they feel the Wimbledon organizers were wrong in their decision.
Last month, Wimbledon confirmed what had been speculated for many weeks – there will be no Russian and Belarusian participants at The Championships this year. The ATP and WTA responded in a harsh way, stripping Wimbledon of ranking points in 2022.
“I think it was a mistake by Wimbledon to do what they did, and it’s compounded by the fact the ATP and the WTA say there are no points. I don’t see how that helps the players” said McEnroe on Eurosport, per Tennis365.
“If the players really believe that Wimbledon made a big mistake by not allowing Russian and Belarusian players to play then they should have boycotted the tournament [like in 1973 when Nikola Pilic was not allowed to play and most of the players opted out in protest]”.
McEnroe, Tim Henman on the Wimbledon situation
The Wimbledon organizers defended themselves by suggesting they were pressured by the UK government into their decision. Also, the Wimbledon organizers said they didn’t want to put Russian players in a potential danger by requiring them to sign some kind of anti-Vladimir Putin forms.
“The reality of the situation is there are no winners and I feel enormous sympathy for the Russian and Belarusian players that cannot play,” Henman said. “When you go through the circumstances presented to Wimbledon, the directive from the government is players are not allowed to play as neutral athletes, like on the tour at the moment.
So the question in return is are Wimbledon expected to turn around, given their status in the UK, and say to the government actually we think we know better so will do something different?” McEnroe concluded by stating that to him this seem like a “lose-lose situation.”
