By Derrick Bangura
Wimbledon organisers are to announce a full ban of all players from Russia and Belarus at this year’s championships.
The move will mean world No 2 Daniil Medvedev and the former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka will not be competing at the All England Club this summer because of the invasion of Ukraine
The tournament will be the first to suspend players from the countries. Currently they are allowed to play on the ATP and WTA tours as neutral athletes, and have been allowed to put their names on the entry list for next month’s French Open.
There are four Russian men in the top 30 and two in the top 10, the currently injured Medvedev (ranked 2) and Andrey Rublev (8). There are two Belarusian women players in the top 20 including last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka (current world No 4), and one Russian, Anastasia Pavluychenkova.