Top tennis players call for Wimbledon to be stripped of ranking points

The decision to ban Belarusian and Russian athletes from Wimbledon taken by the All England Lawn Tennis and Lawn Tennis Association has come under criticism from the crème de la crème of tennis, including World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev and Roger Federer.

In an annoying response to the non-invitation of Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka and other Russian players, the Association of Tennis Professionals have been holding meetings in Madrid and Rome to ascertain sanctions to be imposed on Wimbledon and other British grasscourt events held by the Lawn Tennis Association. 

The decision still needs to be finalized by the ATP board, consisting of three tournament representatives and three player representatives. The ATP council includes Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic were also part of the committee but stepped down a year ago.

ATP chief executive Andrea Gaudenzi is likely to take the players' side while deciding which will reduce the biggest Grand Slam event to a glorified exhibition tournament.

As a private members' club organizes Wimbledon, the only option ATP and WTA have to punish AELTC is to withdraw their ranking points. However, the Lawn Tennis Association will have to face fines in addition to withdrawal of ranking points as it has contracts with ATP and WTA to run their events as franchises.

Rafael Nadal says it is his 'job' to defend Russians banned from Wimbledon.

The 21-time Grand Slam champion is standing defiant in the face of the All England Club and politicians to defend banned Belarusian and Russian players.

Last week, Rafael Nadal said, "The only thing we can do is be in touch with Wimbledon and the rest of the ATP management to do the things that work better to protect every single player in the ATP. In the end, that's our job: to protect the players and work [to] the benefit of every single player that we are representing.

The organizing committee of Wimbledon suffered a blow last week when Sir Andy Murray refused to back its stance. He said, "I don't support one side or the other.

British politicians launch an attack on Federer and Nadal.

The chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia, Chris Bryant MP, feels like the men's tour does not care about Ukraine's happening and is behaving appallingly. He said, "Federer and Nadal should come clean. Do they want Vladimir Putin to fail, or don't they care?

All England Club has no intention to lift the ban, most likely due to pressure from the British government. Many people think that the players' crisis appears to be an act of self-harm.

Former sports minister and member of the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport select committee, MP Clive Efford, said, "The ATP needs to look around and appreciate how the rest of the world outside its bubble will view it for sanctioning Wimbledon for supporting Ukraine.

Unity among the band of male players taking on the biggest tournament in tennis shows that they are working as an authentic collective with no intention of backing down. A good performance at Wimbledon can turn the trajectory of a season. Therefore, the willingness of players to see Wimbledon stripped of ranking points is not a small sacrifice. The players have adopted a 'no man left behind' stance, which is a rarity in individual sports governed by different organizations.