Russia ‘s invasion of Ukraine has had consequences for Russian athletes. UEFA and FIFA have expelled them from international competitions, the Euroleague has done the same with Russian teams, FINA has prevented them from participating under the flag of their country… and so on. Now, the Ukrainian Tennis Federation assures that Medvedev should not participate in the remaining three Grand Slams this season.
The president of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation, Seva Kewlysch , has asked the International Tennis Federation to suspend tennis players from Russia and Belarus and not compete in their tournaments: «Medvedev should not play at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open ». The Ukrainian president was very forceful when talking about the situation of the new number one in the world and demands that the ITF not let him participate in any of their tournaments.
Medvedev has risen to the top of the ATP ranking this Monday, but Kewkysch does not want to see a Russian tennis player as world number one and that is why he launched this petition. “We will let Medvedev play the ATP Tour tournaments but the Grand Slams are ITF tournaments. If you can’t play them, you’ll never be number one. They would be ashamed to be kicked out of a competition now.”
Kewlysch asks the ITF not to let Russian tennis players participate in the Grand Slams and the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup , the main country competitions in tennis. In fact, Russia is the current champion of both championships after winning the last edition in both men’s and women’s.
At the moment, the ATP has suspended the tournament that was going to be played in Moscow due to the war between Russia and Ukraine but they have not taken any action against Russian tennis players. Both Rublev and Medvedev have been against what is happening, moreover, the former signed the camera after winning his last tournament with a message that said “no to war please”.
