Murray expects Russians to be allowed back at Wimbledon

FRANK DALLERES

ANDY Murray says he expects Wimbledon to lift its ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players for this year’s championships.

The tournament imposed the ban last year, under pressure from the government, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But Murray is anticipating the sanction being lifted, paving the way for women’s world No2 Aryna Sabalenka and men’s No6 Daniil Medvedev to play in London in July.

“It’s a really difficult one and I do feel for the players who weren’t able to play last year, but I also understand the situation and why it’s really hard for Wimbledon to make a call on it,” the Briton told the BBC. “My understanding is that they are going to be allowed to play and I’m not going to be going nuts if that is the case. But if Wimbledon went down another route, I would be understanding of that.”

The elite men’s and women’s tours stripped Wimbledon of ranking points in response to last year’s ban, while Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association was fined £1.4m for banning Russian and Belarusian players from other UK events.

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