MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. /TASS/. Russia’s top tennis player Daniil Medvedev has decided to skip the 2024 ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals) in the United Arab Emirates next week, the tournament’s official website reported on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, I will not be able to defend my title in Doha this year," the tournament’s reigning champion was quoted as saying. "I’m still not 100% ready to compete. I am really sorry."

The 2024 Qatar Open is set to be played on outdoor hard courts between February 19 and 24. The tournament is played at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar, and offers almost $1.4 million in prize money.

Medvedev, 27, is currently third in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Rankings List. In 2022, the top Russian racket spent sixteen weeks as the number one player in the world. He is the 2021 US Open Champion and has 20 ATP tournament titles under his belt. He won five of these 20 titles in 2023. Also, in 2021, he won the Davis Cup as well as the ATP Cup playing for the Russian national team.

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also cancelling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

However, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.