The two tennis players spoke about the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players from the English tournament on Sunday, on the sidelines of the Masters 1000 in Madrid.
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It’s a decision that continues to cause a stir. Rafael Nadal estimated, Sunday, May 1 before Masters 1000 of Madrid that the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players from the Wimbledon tournament in response to the invasion of Ukraine was “very unfair”.
“It’s very unfairconsidered Nadal. They can’t do much, can they? Why is it their fault what is happening at the moment, the war?asked the 35-year-old Spaniard. “I really feel sorry for them.”
“It’s very unfair to them. But what’s happening is so unfortunate that ultimately what happens in our sport is almost irrelevant when there are so many people dying and suffering.”he continued.
Novak Djokovic, who had previously called the decision a “crazy” a few days ago said “maintain (one’s) position” Sunday. “I think it’s unfair”reaffirmed the world number 1, evoking the possibility of acting on the variable of the points distributed at Wimbledon, for example by keeping those of the Russians and Belarusians prevented from participating, so as not to penalize anyone.
Wimbledon announced ten days ago its decision to exclude Russians and Belarusians from its 2022 edition (June 27-July 10) due to the invasion of Ukraine. This decision is a first in world tennis and was immediately strongly criticized by the ATP, the WTA and several players.