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As the world’s most famous grass-court tennis tournament gets underway, there will be some glaring, controversial absences.
On Monday, All England Club chairman Ian Hewitt defended the organization’s decision in April to ban Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, saying there was “no other viable” alternative.
In response, the ATP and WTA stripped The Championships of ranking points, as it would be unfair to the individuals banned from participating. Wimbledon would ordinarily award 2,000 ranking points each to the winners of the gentlemen’s and ladies’ tournaments.
Had he been allowed to compete, ATP No. 1-ranked Russian star Daniil Medvedev would have been given the top seed. In his absence — and with No. 2 Alexander Zverev out due to injury — Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were awarded the respective top two seeds.
Belarusian and WTA No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka is the highest-ranked women’s player barred from participation.
If the lack of rankings points threatened to scare off any players, a record prize pool may have incentivized them to come back.
Wimbledon will hand out $50.4 million in prizes, with the winner of the men’s and women’s singles brackets each taking home a tournament-record $2.5 million.
