Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev says he doesn’t want to give himself a false Wimbledon hope as he noted that it’s highly unlikely Wimbledon reverses its decision. Last month, Wimbledon announced a player ban for Russian and Belarusian players.
The Wimbledon organizers were under the pressure of the UK government and ultimately decided not to allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete at The Championships this year. “I don’t give myself hope. First of all I think if they announce already one decision, I don’t think that they will step back,” Rublev said, as quoted on Eurosport.
“If they will step back it will be really, really nice, and it would be a really nice move from them. Because I made already a statement why it makes no sense and I think if we are playing, we can be much more useful to help than if we’re going to do be banned.
“I think there are still calls between ATP and Wimbledon and some stuff like that, so we’ll see how the story ends. But how I understand that most likely… yeah I’m not giving too much hope”.
Rublev won’t be making his fourth Wimbledon appearance this year
Rublev made his Wimbledon debut in 2017.
Back then, Rublev won three qualifying matches and beat Stefano Travaglia in the first round before losing to Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round. Rublev didn’t compete at Wimbledon in 2018 but returned to the tournament in 2019 and reached the second round.
Wimbledon was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic and Rublev achieved his best Wimbledon result last year, when he made the round-of-16. Rublev didn’t hide his frustration after Wimbledon announced their decision, describing it as a complete discrimination against Russian players.
The ATP and WTA released statements following the Wimbledon decision, stating they weren’t happy wiith the decision they made. Rublev and other Russian players were also banned from competing at the Queen’s Club and Eastbourne.
