The French Open organizers have confirmed they have no plans to mirror Wimbledon and make it extra tough for Daniil Medvedev and rest of Russian players to compete at the tournament.Â
Reports coming out of Great Britain suggest Medvedev might be banned from competing at Wimbledon unless he publicly denounces Russian president Vladimir Putin.Â
Medvedev has publicly stated that he is for the peace in the world but British sports minister Nigel Huddleston suggested the 2021 US Open champion should be required to sign a written declaration that he is not receiving any money from Putin and that he won’t be showing support to Putin or Russia during the tournament.Â
Meanwhile, the French Open plan to adhere to the current ruling imposed by the ATP, WTA and ITF, which says Russian players are allowed to compete in international but not under the name or flag of Russia, or as some like to call it as “neutrals.”
Wimbledon reportedly ‘ready to ban Wimbledon’
“Private member clubs have more freedom as to who to allow in or not, so they wouldn’t be subject to the same discrimination laws as the [ATP or WTA] tours,” a source who worked closely with the AELTC told The Telegraph.
“If you are running the main tennis tour, you have the freedom to ban players – if they have been found guilty of match-fixing or doping, for instance – but you have to be able to show that this course of action is reasonable.
“In this instance, if the tours took strong action, Russians players could argue that they are being prevented from making a living through no fault of their own. That is not so much of an issue for Wimbledon, however.”
“Look, I try to take it tournament by tournament. I mean, there are always, you know, different rules, regulations in order to play or not to play. You know, right now I’m here in Miami. I can play and I’m happy to play tennis,” Medvedev said in Miami. “Don’t have any response to Wimbledon.”