Andy Murray, the former world number one, has stated that discussions at Wimbledon should give priority to the war in Ukraine and the challenges faced by Ukrainian tennis players rather than focusing on the Grand Slam’s decision to lift the ban on Russian and Belarusian players. In 2022, Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam tournament to prohibit competitors from Russia and Belarus due to the invasion, which Moscow refers to as a “special operation.” However, it has been announced that these players could compete as neutrals this year.
Andy Murray stressed that it is crucial to continue discussing the current situation in Ukraine instead of solely focusing on a few tennis players and athletes who may or may not participate in significant sporting events. He expressed his views to the Tennis Majors website.
“It’s a difficult decision for Wimbledon. The rest of sport had gone in a completely different direction to them, which made it hard. But I don’t think this should be so much about that.
“It’s distracting a little bit from actually what’s taking place. You don’t want that to happen. You want the actual issue to be at the forefront of all of these discussions.”
Several Ukrainian players have spoken about how difficult it is to continue competing while their country is at war.
“I’ve seen some of the female players have spoken out about how difficult they found it and maybe felt like they could have had more support through that,” Murray said.
“You need to understand their perspective as well, and not just the players that weren’t allowed to play last year.
“There are Ukrainian players whose families (are affected) and they’re going through unbelievably difficult times. That’s what’s important.”
