London, March 2 (IANS) The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) on Wednesday suspend the WTA/ATP combined event, scheduled this October in Moscow owing to Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine which has reportedly left thousands dead and homeless.
Also, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Board has decided to suspend the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation membership and to withdraw their entries from all ITF international team competition until further notice. This action follows the cancellation of all ITF tournaments in Russia and Belarus indefinitely.
However, Russia and Belarus tennis players, including the likes of newly-crowned world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev among others, will continue to be allowed to compete in international tennis events on Tour and at the Grand Slams, but they will “not compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus until further notice.”
A joint statement by the international governing bodies of the sport — ATP, WTA and ITF — said, “A deep sense of distress, shock and sadness has been felt across the entire tennis community following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the past week. Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, and we commend the many tennis players who have spoken out and taken action against this unacceptable act of aggression. We echo their calls for the violence to end and peace to return.
“The safety of the tennis community is our most immediate collective priority. The focus of the WTA and ATP in particular in recent days has been on contacting current and former players, and other members of the tennis community from Ukraine and neighbouring countries, to check on their safety and offer any assistance,” said the statement.
“The international governing bodies of tennis stand united in our condemnation of Russia’s actions and, as a result, are in agreement with the following decisions and actions:
“The WTA and ATP Boards have made the decision to suspend the WTA/ATP combined event, scheduled this October in Moscow.
“The ITF Board has made the decision to suspend the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation membership and to withdraw their entries from all ITF international team competition until further notice. This action follows the cancellation of all ITF tournaments in Russia and Belarus indefinitely.
“At this time, players from Russia and Belarus will continue to be allowed to compete in international tennis events on Tour and at the Grand Slams. However, they will not compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus until further notice,” the statement added.
–IANS
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