Russian and Belarusian players will be forced to miss this year’s Grand Slam in London because of their nationality
The decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from this summer’s Wimbledon has been met with a backlash from the likes of world number one Novak Djokovic and tour organizers the ATP and WTA.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) says it doesn’t want competitors from Russia and Belarus descending on SW19 for fear that it will supposedly hand “the Russian regime” something of a coup.
That logic has been questioned and organizers of the fabled grass court spectacle could yet find themselves subject to retaliatory measures by both the ATP and WTA.
But should the suits at Wimbledon stand firm in their ban, they will be depriving fans of a whole host of top tennis talent when their showpiece gets underway at the end of June.
Here are some of the Russian and Belarusian players set to miss out due to their nationality.
Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev is the biggest name who would be absent from Wimbledon this summer.
The Russian has emerged to break the stranglehold of the ‘Big Three’ at the top of the men’s game, briefly usurping Novak Djokovic at the summit of the ATP rankings earlier this year.
Currently at world number two, the 26-year-old is recovering from a hernia operation which could rule him out of the French Open at the end of May – where Russians and Belarusians are clear to compete.
The reigning US Open champion has confirmed his participation at the ATP grass court event at the Libema Open in the Netherlands on June 4 – a tournament which would ordinarily serve as a warm-up for Wimbledon.
Hard court specialist Medvedev is not known for his grass court prowess and the furthest he has gone at the London Grand Slam was a fourth-round appearance last year.
The big Russian was involved in an infamous incident at the tournament back in 2017 when he tossed coins at the umpire’s chair following a second-round defeat.
Win or lose, Medvedev is invariably entertaining – and Wimbledon will be all the poorer for his absence this year.
Andrey Rublev
Russian world number eight Rublev is fresh from title success at the Serbia Open, where he saw off home hero Djokovic in the final.
The 24-year-old has established himself in the men’s top 10, bouncing back from lingering injuries early in his career amid fears that he would not be able to make good on his evident talents.
The red-headed star boasts 11 ATP titles in total – including three this season alone – and went on a career-best run to the fourth round of Wimbledon last year.
Rublev has been vocal in his opposition to the ban , calling it “discrimination” and “illogical.”
“To give all the prize money would have a more positive effect to humanitarian help, to the families who are suffering, to the kids who are suffering,” said Rublev.
“I think that would do something. Tennis will, in that case, be the first and only sport who donates that amount of money and it will be Wimbledon so they will take all the glory.”
At the outset of the conflict with Ukraine, Rublev made headlines when he scrawled ‘No War Please’ on the camera lens at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
That will not suffice for the lawmakers at the lawn tennis showpiece.
Karen Khachanov
Khachanov went all the way to the last eight in Wimbledon last time round – his joint-best run at a Grand Slam – and has also been critical of the actions of the All England Club in ostracizing Russians.
“For me, it’s one of the nicest tournaments in the world… I had a good run there last year – I played the quarterfinals…I’m really sad that the decision was taken,” said the 25-year-old.
Khachanov is currently ranked world number 26 but has risen as high as eighth.
He is the winner of four ATP tour titles and collected an Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo Games last summer.
This summer is unlikely to be as successful as he sits out Wimbledon and the rich prize money on offer.
Aslan Karatsev
Karatsev, 28, has been something of a late bloomer in his career but exploded onto the scene with his extraordinary run to the semifinals at last year’s Australian Open after emerging from qualifying at what was a maiden Grand Slam appearance.
He lost to eventual winner Novak Djokovic but has risen as high as world number 14 in the ensuing period.
Karatsev has picked up three ATP titles, including in Sydney at the start of this year. He has not dropped outside the world’s top 50 men’s stars since his Australian Open heroics, and currently resides at number 33.
He also has an Olympic silver medal to his name in the mixed doubles, earned alongside Elena Vesnina in Tokyo.
Along with Medvedev and Khachanov, Karatsev also helped Russia to glory in the Davis Cup last year.
The Vladikavkaz-born star did not get beyond the first round of last season’s Wimbledon but will be deprived of the chance to improve on that showing this summer.
Ilya Ivashka
The only Belarusian men’s name on our list, Ivashka stands number 48 in the ATP singles rankings.
The 28-year-old Minsk native picked up a solitary senior tour title on the hard courts at the Winston-Salem Open in the US last season.
Ivashka re-entered the world’s top 100 in May of last year and has remained there since then.
In Grand Slam terms, the 6ft 4in star enjoyed a career-best run at Wimbledon last year when he went all the way to the fourth round before falling to eventual finalist Matteo Berrettini of Italy.
Aryna Sabalenka
Belarusian big-hitter Sabalenka is the highest-ranked female ace set to suffer because of the UK sanctions.
The Minsk-born player is fourth in the world and has amassed 10 WTA titles in her burgeoning career.
Sabalenka went all the way to the Wimbledon semifinals last year before falling to Czech star Karolina Pliskova. That is a joint-best career performance for the 23-year-old, who has also gone as far as the last four at the US Open.
The powerful Belarusian has considerable doubles talents as another string to her racket, winning Grand Slam titles alongside Belgium’s Elise Mertens at the US Open in 2019 and Australian Open in 2021.
Such is Sabalenka’s mastery in the pairs, she was ranked doubles world number one back in February of last year.
The grass courts of Wimbledon will undoubtedly miss her imposing presence this summer.
Victoria Azarenka
Before Sabalenka rose to the top of Belarusian women’s tennis, countrywoman Azarenka ruled the roost.
Now 32, Azarenka has been among the brightest women’s stars in the game for the past decade.
Azarenka is a two-time Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open and has reached the final of the US Open on three occasions, although missing out on the title each time.
She made successive appearances in the Wimbledon semifinals in 2012 and 2013, which marked her best-ever showing at SW19.
The Minsk-born star ascended to the women’s world number one spot in 2012 and has spent a total of 51 weeks at the pinnacle of the rankings.
Currently world number 17, returns have been more modest for the mother-of-one in recent seasons. At the end of March, Azarenka announced that she would be taking a break from tennis after unceremoniously retiring against 16-year-old Czech rival Linda Fruhvirtova at the Miami Open.
Azarenka later explained that “the last few weeks have been extremely stressful in my personal life,” although any comeback will now have to exclude Wimbledon.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Pavlyuchenkova, 30, is Russia’s biggest current women’s star.
A veteran of the WTA tour, she made a maiden Grand Slam final appearance last season at the French Open, losing a hard-fought battle against Czech ace Barbora Krejcikova.
Pavlyuchenkova has 12 WTA career titles to her name and claimed Olympic mixed doubles gold alongside Andrey Rublev at the Tokyo Games last summer.
Pavlyuchenkova reached the last eight of Wimbledon back in 2014 but has only gone as far as the third round in subsequent appearances on the grass of the All England Club.
She is ranked world number 15 at present, which is not far off her highest-ever rating of 11.
When tensions erupted with Ukraine, Pavlyuchenkova issued a ‘no war’ message on social media and later made an appearance on CNN as she called for peace.
Even statements like that do not appear to be enough for Wimbledon bosses to grant entry to Russians.
Anastasia Potapova
Russian youngster Potapova has just tasted the first major success of her senior career, winning the title at the BNP Paribas Tennis Championship in Istanbul by seeing off fellow Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the final.
It was a major breakthrough for the 21-year-old Potapova, who is ranked number 78 in the world.
Being barred from Wimbledon will deprive Potapova of a return to the spot when she claimed Grand Slam glory as a junior, winning the girls’ title in 2016 when she beat Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in the final.
The blonde Saratov-born ace has yet to go beyond the second round in the senior ranks at Wimbledon but won’t have a chance to rectify that for at least another year.
Veronika Kudermetova
Kudermatova was defeated by compatriot Potapova in the final in Turkey at the weekend but has thus far made more inroads on the senior tour than her younger countrywoman.
Kudermetova has flown as high as world number 22 in the WTA singles rankings and boasts a tour title won at the Charleston Open in the US last year.
An accomplished doubles player, the 25-year-old Kudermetova reached the Wimbledon women’s doubles final alongside fellow Russian Elena Vesnina last season, but the pair were defeated by Elise Mertens and Hsieh Su-wei.
Kudermetova is ranked number four in the world in women’s doubles and has three WTA career doubles titles to her name.
Like her compatriots, she will be an enforced absence from the green grass of the All England Club in June.
Daria Kasatkina
Kasatkina, 24, is a popular figure among Russian tennis fans and ascended to the heights of the world number 10 spot back in 2018.
The dark-haired star is another former Russian junior sensation and scooped the girls’ title at the French Open in 2014.
Hailing from the famous car-making region of Togliatty, Kasatkina has motored along steadily in the senior ranks, including runs to the quarterfinals of the US Open and Wimbledon in 2018.
Her last WTA tour title came at the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne at the start of last year, which is one of four senior triumphs to her name.
Kasatkina currently occupies the world number 23 spot and sadly for her fans, she will have to go without a Wimbledon appearance this year unless officials reverse their stance.
Liudmila Samsonova
Sitting just below countrywomen Kasatkina and Kudermetova in the WTA rankings is the 23-year-old Samsonova.
The up-and-coming star recently pushed relentless world number one Iga Swiatek all the way in their Porsche Grand Prix semifinal in Stuttgart.
The Murmansk-born ace picked up a maiden WTA Tour title at the 2021 German Open. Training in Rome and a fluent speaker of Italian after moving with her parents to the country when she was baby, Samsonova previously represented Italy but switched to Russia from 2019.
Samsonova was inspired as she helped the Russian team to a first Fed Cup (Billie Jean King Cup) title in more than a decade in Prague last November, alongside teammates Pavlyuchenkova, Kasatkina, Kudermatova, and Ekaterina Alexandrova (mentioned below).
Samsonova’s best Grand Slam run to date came at last year’s Wimbledon, where she reached the fourth round.
A ban means a repeat will not be on the cards for the world number 26 this year.
Ekaterina Alexandrova
Alexandrova is another top-50 Russian women’s talent who will be unable to grace the Wimbledon grass.
The Chelyabinsk native scooped a WTA Tour title in Shenzhen, China, in 2020 – which to date remains her biggest success.
Alexandrova has been ranked as high as world number 25, but currently lies a more modest 45th.
The 27-year-old has a WTA doubles title to her name, claimed with Vera Zvonareva in Budapest in 2019, as well as last year’s famous team triumph with Russia at the Billie Jean King Cup.
Alexandrova has reached the second round of the Wimbledon women’s singles twice, including last season.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich
The third Belarusian name on our women’s list is Sasnovich, currently 50th in the WTA singles ratings.
The Minsk native, 28, is yet to win a WTA Tour title but has still racked up more than $4 million in prize money down the years.
Sasnovich’s best Grand Slam run to date came at Wimbledon in 2018 when she reached the last 16.
At doubles level, the Belarusian enjoyed a charge to the semifinals of the US Open in 2019 alongside Viktoria Kuzmova of the Czech Republic, before falling to countrywoman Azarenka and her partner Ash Barty of Australia.
There will be no singles or doubles success to speak of at Wimbledon this year if Sasnovich and her compatriots are sidelined.
Anna Kalinskaya
Russia’s Kalinskaya, 23, is another name yet to win a WTA Tour singles title but does own a hat-trick of doubles crowns.
The Moscow-born star broke into the world’s top 100 in 2019 and that year earned a major scalp by seeing off former champion Sloane Stephens in the first round of the US Open.
Kalinskaya has also made headlines for a purported former romance with Aussie tennis bad boy Nick Kyrgios.
Kalinskaya has never gone beyond the first round of the Wimbledon singles in two attempts in the main draw. As things stand, she won’t have the chance to improve on that in 2022.
Varvara Gracheva
Rounding off our list is budding Russian youngster Gracheva, who at just 21 years of age has already made a steady upwards trajectory in the senior ranks.
The Moscow-born starlet is based in France, training alongside the likes of Russian men’s star Daniil Medvedev.
Gracheva reached the semifinals at the Chicago Open last year, winning the first set against French veteran Alize Cornet before dropping the next two.
Gracheva has started to make inroads at Grand Slams, reaching the third round of the US Open twice and progressing to the same stage at Roland-Garros last season.
Her Grand Slam progress seems set to be stalled with the non-admission for Russians at Wimbledon this summer.
