Due to this ban, many big players will not be able to play at Wimbledon, including current US Open champion Daniil Medvedev. Who had recently risen to the top of the ATP rankings and is currently at number two. Apart from them, ranking number eight player Andrei Rublev in men and Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova among women will be missing from Wimbledon starting June 27.
This time players from Russia and Belarus will not be able to participate in the world’s most prestigious lawn tennis tournament Wimbledon. Players from both countries have been banned from participating in Wimbledon 2022 in the wake of the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. The announcement was made by the All England Tennis Club, which organizes Wimbledon and the management committee of the championship, in a statement. A statement issued in this regard said that we would like to express our support to the people affected by the conflict in Ukraine at this difficult time.
We are against the illegal actions being taken by Russia in Ukraine and in view of the global criticism of it, keeping in mind our duties towards the players, in view of the guidelines issued by the Government of Britain, this time we haven’t invited players from Russia and Belarus in the competition.
Due to this ban, many big players will not be able to play at Wimbledon, including current US Open champion Daniil Medvedev. Who had recently risen to the top of the ATP rankings and is currently at number two. Apart from them, ranking number eight player Andrei Rublev in men and Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova among women will be missing from Wimbledon starting June 27.
              The comeback of Serena
America’s most successful player of women’s tennis, Serena Williams, is once again ready to return to Wimbledon. For this, the All England Club has given her a wild-card entry for the women’s singles competition of Wimbledon, the oldest and most prestigious Grand Slam this year. Serena has not competed anywhere since being injured during the opening set of her first round match at the All England Club last year. Her name did not figure in the women’s singles entry list released by the Grand Slam tournament earlier this month. Serena, however, was among the six women players to have a place in the singles draw on Tuesday. The former number one player posted a picture of his white shoes with a message on the grass field earlier in the day. The message read, “‘SW’ and ‘SW19’, let’s meet in 2022.”
Ranked 1,204 in the world without a competitive singles match in 12 months, Serena Williams will enter Wimbledon, the biggest match of all time. The seven-time All England Club champion is also chasing a 24th Grand Slam title. The American star has been disappointed at 23rd grand Slams since winning her seventh Australian Open during her pregnancy in 2017. She was runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2018 and 2019 as Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 majors was out of reach. “Did I ever doubt I’d be back? Absolutely, sure. If I were to say it wasn’t and now my body is feeling better,” Williams said after winning the doubles court at Eastbourne on Tuesday. “It felt good but I always try to be half fit because you never know when you’re going to play Wimbledon.”
Williams is the last woman to successfully defend the Wimbledon title in 2016. When she played her first Wimbledon in 1998, current world number one Inga Svetk was still three years away. Paul, 21, reached the tournament with a second French Open title and 35 wins. This equals Venus Williams’ 35 consecutive victories in 2000, the longest by a woman in the 21st century. This also took Serena’s score to 34. “It’s something special after the 35th win and a little more performance than Serena,” said Switek. Wimbledon will test her ability to keep running, where last year’s fourth round was her best, even though she was the 2018 junior champion. “The grass is always tough. I really like the part I didn’t expect. It’s kind of a freshener,” she said. The women’s draw will begin with the retirement of defending champion Ashleigh Barty earlier this year.
     The impact of Russian invasion of Ukraine
World number 43 doubles tennis player Natella Gelamidze has changed her nationality from Russia to Georgia to compete at Wimbledon starting June 27. In April, Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarusian players following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, Natella, a Moscow-born tennis player, found a different way to involve herself in the championship by changing her nationality from Russia to Georgia.
The 29-year-old is on the Wimbledon entry list as the Georgian, who competed at the French Open in May under a neutral flag. She will compete with Serbia’s Alexandra Krunic in the women’s doubles event at Wimbledon. The grass-court Grand Slam, starting on June 27, features Russia’s world number one men’s singles players Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev along with top women’s players Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka and Daria Kasatkina, who will be crowned the third Grand Slam of the year has been barred from participating.
The All England Club said it had no involvement in changing the nationalities of the players. BBC Sports quoted the All England Club as saying: “A player’s nationality is defined as the flag they play in professional events, an agreed process governed by the Tours and the ITF (International Tennis Federation). ” Natella is ranked 43rd in the world in women’s doubles after losing in the first round of women’s doubles and mixed doubles at Roland Garros.
Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, rarely a serious threat to the grass, has moved on with an Achilles injury. The Japanese star, the world’s highest-paid player, had already objected to participating in it. He feared that it would be downgraded to an exhibition tournament after the ATP and WTA stripped her of Wimbledon status Ranking Points. This was in response to sanctions imposed on Russian and Belarusian players following the invasion of Ukraine. So three of the top 20 women will miss Wimbledon – Ariana Sabalenka, last year’s semifinalist, 2018 quarterfinalist Daria Kasatkina and Victoria Azarenka, the 2011 and 2012 semifinals. None of the top five have ever reached the semi-finals.
              The fight of G.O.A.T
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have been seeded top two at the Wimbledon tennis tournament, putting the two stars in separate halves of the men’s singles draw this time around. The preference for Wimbledon was announced on Tuesday. In the absence of Daniil Medvedev and Alexandr Zverev, Djokovic has been seeded top while Nadal is seeded second. The All England Club has banned players from Russia and Belarus for attacking Ukraine, leaving world number one Medvedev out of Wimbledon. Number two Zverev is out with an ankle injury. Being the top two seeds, Djokovic and Nadal will not face each other before the final.
India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri crashed out of qualifying for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in the men’s singles first round. Thus, the Indian players continued their disappointing performance in the singles qualifying stage of the Grand Slam tournament.Bhambri lost 5-7, 1-6 to Spain’s Barnabe Zapata Mirales while Ramkumar lost 5-7, 4-6 to Vit Kopriev of Czech Republic. Bhambri got off to a good start with a break point early in the first set and was leading 5-3 at one point.
Despite being in such good shape, Bhambri missed two set points and gave Mirales a chance to make a comeback. Miralles continued his performance in the second set as well. India’s number one tennis player Ramanathan lost in straight sets to 19th seed Kopriv. After losing the first set, he was leading 3-1 in the second set but failed to make a comeback after that. After the exit of both Bhambri and Ramanathan, now only Sania Mirza will be seen playing in Wimbledon from India. She has teamed up with Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecka in women’s doubles. Rohan Bopanna has decided not to play in this competition.
