Wimbledon bans players from Russia, Belarus over Ukraine war

By CHRIS LEHOURITES
AP Sports Writer

LONDON (AP) — Russian and Belarusian tennis players have been banned from competing at this year’s Wimbledon tournament because of the war in Ukraine. The All England Club’s move makes the grass-court Grand Slam tournament in southwest London the first top-level tennis event to bar players from Russia and Belarus. Among those affected are second-ranked Daniil Medvedev. He won last year’s U.S. Open and was this year’s Australian Open runner-up. He was briefly ranked No. 1 in the world this year. Another player affected is Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. Azarenka is a two-time Australian Open champion and also a former No. 1.