Tennis great Billie Jean King says players from all countries should be allowed to play at Wimbledon as organizers face growing pressure to reverse their ban on Russian and Belarussian players.
Last year the Grand Slam became the first major event in the sport to implement such a ban in response to the War in Ukraine. Last February Russia launched a military offensive on its neighbour and Belarus is suspected of supporting them. In response, the ITF, WTA and ATP agree to suspend those two countries from all team events and only allow them to compete on the Tour under a neutral status.
However, The All England Club went one step further with a full ban which they decided to do following advice from the British government who feared that Russia could use their players as propaganda. The decision prompted backlash from both the men’s and women’s Tour who decided to remove awarding ranking points at the event for the first time. Organizers have also been heavily fined for their actions but an appeal process has been launched.
Weighing in on the subject during a special Original Nine press conference held at the Australian Open, six-time Wimbledon champion and WTA co-founder King says the ban should be lifted and the allocation of ranking points reinstated.
“Just have them play and get their money,” King replied when asked if there should be an outright ban or compromise. “It’s the ranking points, for sure. They have to have it. Rybakina, they’ve seeded her 25th, but because she won Wimbledon, she’s not (seeded higher).”
The former world No.1 said she hopes the grass-court major will follow in line with the other three major events that allowed Russian and Belarussian players to compete but only as neutral athletes. At this year’s Australian Open, two of the women’s semi-finalists are from Belarus and two Russians have reached the quarter-final stage of the men’s draw. Although the tournament has banned flags from those two countries following an incident that occurred during a match involving a Ukrainian player in the first round.
“I hope they do, just keep it the same way the other ones (Grand Slam tournaments) are,” King continued. “Life is too short. We are a platform to have discussions on this, though, just like you’re asking. I think it’s important.’
“WTA was started for that, so we’d all have one voice, too, to help protect players.”
It is unclear when The All England Club will make a final decision regarding whether to maintain or remove the ban at this year’s tournament which will begin on July 3rd.
