Danlil has been pretty quiet about the ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players in the upcoming Wimbledon tournament but recently had some things to say to the press and he did so in a kind way without pointing the fingers at anyone in particular. I think most of the tennis world agrees that the ban on him and other players is unfair since they, the players, have nothing to do with the actions of their countries in Ukraine, which is the reasoning behind the ban.
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Danlil became one of my favorite players after his victory over Djokovic in Australia 2 years ago when he spoke in what has to be the most humble of victory speeches that I have ever heard spoken by any winner in the sport in history. He seemed almost to be apologizing to his opponent for "ruining" his chance at becoming the highest Grand Slam winner of all time even though he clearly deserved the victory. Since then I have watched his career with great interest because I enjoy his style of play in particular his lightning fast serving style.
Wimbledon decided not long ago that tennis players from Russia and Belarus would not be permitted to play in the upcoming tournament unless the signed a document denouncing the actions of their respective nations which was an absurd request to make of someone. Even if you are rich and famous, doing this could cause massive problems for the star themselves as well as their families and friends - I think this should be fairly obvious and nobody inside Wimbledon thought that any of the players would actually do it. Medvedev has not signed this document, has no intention of doing so, and he hasn't even publicly addressed the request.
Other players including top stars Djokovic and Nadal have been supporting of the Russian tennis star as well as others from the 2 banned nations. While they haven't directly said to "let him play!" they have said that this is unfair and suggested that the points earned during the events where all nations are not invited to play for whatever reason, shouldn't count towards global rankings.
While everyone is being very careful with the words that they choose, these guys avoided talking about the Russia ban but instead suggested that the ATP (one of tennis' governing bodies) should make the events that are excluding certain nations should have the point tally from the wins removed thereby not having an effect on the world rankings. In my mind this seemed like a fair compromise but apparently the ATP doesn't agree stating “This season’s ATP Tour events in Queen’s and Eastbourne will proceed as normal, offering full ATP rankings points.”
They did however acknowledge that by excluding certain nations' players that they were knowingly violating their own rules and expected to be fined for this action. There is also a chance that the global alliance of the various tennis ruling organizations could overrule this and negate the points earned during the tournaments.
Danlil Medvedev has kept his words out of discussion until recently and while doing so he didn't discuss the situation in Ukraine at all and referred to it only in generalities.
“This is a delicate situation because it sets a precedent and puts other sports competitions in an uncomfortable position. Where is the line? What are the rules that should lead to a possible exclusion? For having discussed it with the ATP, we are, us tennis players, considered in terms of law as independent workers.
“But currently in the United Kingdom, self-employed Russians have the right to work. So, if I have the opportunity to play at Wimbledon, I would be delighted. If not, I would accept it.”
I believe it was a terrible decision for Wimbledon to get involved in politics and try to invoke this ban in the first place and by doing so they are damaging the sport as a whole. It will affect the world rankings for many players and most notably Medvedev, who is one of the best players in the world and is in a position to become one of the GOATs.
For those that do win Wimbledon, the victory might be bittersweet because did they really win it when one of the top guys wasn't allowed to play?
It seems to me super unfair what they do, because obviously they as players are not to blame for what the government does, simply this will strongly affect the ranking of Medvedev, a player who was on a great rise and see if career braked in this way, it has to be something devastating.
One of the favorites for Wimbledon was Medvedev, not being now present in the competition, opens possibilities for other players to win, I think if it is worth the championship, but if that thought will remain, about what would have happened if Medvedev is competing, although we can not measure things like that.
im not 100% sure about this but I want to say that whatever the global tennis governing authority is has stated that the Wimbledon points that are awarded will not count towards global ranking. The ranking system is IMMESELY complicated and very difficult to understand but honestly, if everyone is not invited, the points shouldn't count.
It would be nice to see a few more superstars stand up for him if they could.
Ya I agree to a certain extent, it's pretty shit especially for the players who have dedicated their whole lives to their craft and then cannot participate, but on the other hand, things like this may well help for the people to rise up against Putin and his type.
i guess... but think about the things that could be pinned on various governments around the world and then tennis. football, rugby, ping pong... whatever tried to influence those things depending on how they feel about it?
Sports are sports and the politics of whatever nation involved should not be a part of it.
Ya, do you know something, the more that I think about it, the more that I think you are right. I think all of the athletics and swimming doping is in the back of my mind too, but for all of the clean sportspersons, politics should not come into it. They should be completely separate as you rightly assert.
well, this war is surely affecting everything in the world as I see it. This has led to the sale of Chelsea and it as so saw the venue of the champions league final being moved. I personally think that sports should not mix politics but the lines have really been crossed. And if I was in Danlil's shoes, I will surely have acted the way he did as I will not want to bring too much attention to myself or my family during this period.
we will never know how Danlil truly feels. He is in a position where he must remain quiet or else terrible things could happen to him. We can point the finger at Russia all we want but come on..... all other countries have the capability to punish their people in the same fashion. Thanks for commenting.
sports and politics do not go well and it is affecting the players who have no hand in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. It is well.
I think sports and politics are too tightly aligned and sporting bodies need to think for themselves. I think Wimbledon may think this is the right call much in the same way as virtually every other sport has banned Russians from participating. I do see this from both sides and is definitely a tough call on the players. I in this instance agree with Wimbledon on this call as Russia was the one to over step the line. This will never change things but it is showing they are in support of Ukraine. Think back to South African sportsmen who were not allowed to compete for decades and had to change their nationality to compete. That was a period of over 20 years with many careers ruined and it was all political.
oooh, this isn't ringing a bell to me. Looks like I have some interesting reading to do today. Around what time did this happen? I would imagine it was Apartheid related?
1970-1992 which screwed up many sporting careers for all races and not just whites. many changed their nationalities so they could compete but many greats were lost to the sporting world. Funny how they won the Rugby World Cup at their first attempt in 1995 and I am sure they would have a few other titles from some other sports as well. The Glenegales agreement banned them from participating and was in place for over 20 years. There were a few rebel tours where certain sports teams were paid vast amounts of money to come and play and that was the only sporting action anyone saw.
Well then this is a perfect example of punishing people that had nothing to do with what they are being punished for. Shame we don't ever learn from our mistakes.