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Russian tennis chief says all wishing to compete at Wimbledon 2023 'will play there'

On April 20, 2022, Wimbledon organizers - the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) - announced a decision to allow Russian and Belarusian players to participate in the tournament as neutrals and under several conditions

MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/. All Russian tennis players who have been seeking to compete in Wimbledon 2023 will take part in this Grand Slam tournament, Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) President Shamil Tarpishchev told TASS on Wednesday.

"We had an open channel to provide assistance, but nobody turned to us [for help]," Tarpishchev said. "Everyone who wished to play at the Wimbledon will play there."

"Some players will skip it because the season is played on grass [courts] and is, therefore, a short one. If some of the players had problems with entry visas and they missed preparatory tournaments, then there is no sense in playing there. In this case, it makes more sense to start preparing for the hard [courts]," the RTF head added.

On April 20, 2022, Wimbledon organizers - the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) - announced a decision to allow Russian and Belarusian players to participate in the tournament as neutrals and under several conditions.

Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, must compete under a neutral status and must not be financed by the governments of Russia or Belarus, or by state-run companies from either country.

The Wimbledon tournament, the most prestigious out of the four Grand Slam tournaments, has been held annually in London since 1877. It took place last year between June 27 and July 10. This year’s Wimbledon runs between July 3 and 16.

2022 Wimbledon

On April 20, 2022, Wimbledon organizers, the AELTC and the LTA, announced a decision to bar Russian and Belarusian players from participating in the 2022 edition of the tournament, citing Russia’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine as the reason for the ban.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in turn announced decisions on May 20, 2022 to strip Wimbledon of ranking points due to its move to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing at the 2022 Grand Slam tournament in London, as it violated the fundamental principles stipulating that players of any nationality can enter tournaments based on their merits and without any type of discrimination.

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