Google News Karen Khachanov: "Exclusion from Wimbledon? I'm devastated"
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The organizers of the Wimbledon tournament have decided to use a hard punch and to exclude Russian and Belarusian tennis players from the prestigious London Slam. As for the men's tour, the former world number one Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, Aslan Karatsev and Ilya Ivashka will not compete in the third major of the year.
Even the women's tournament lose some of its main protagonists. These are Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Daria Kasatkina, Veronika Kudermetova, Liudmila Samsonova and Aliaksandra Sasnovich. The ATP and the Wta have come out against the decision taken by the Wimbledon organizers and, in the last few hours, two of those directly involved have come out into the open.
Rublev and Khachanov, competing in the Atp 250 tournament in Belgrade this week, have expressed their strong opinion on the action taken by the members of the All England Club.
Khachanov: "Wimbledon? I'm devastated"
"I made a statement about the situation and then I didn't want to answer any more questions, so now I'll make another statement and I hope it can make it clearer.
First of all, I'm not a political expert. I don't know anything, I don't read the news and I don't follow in general, because I work hard to be a tennis player and that's my job," explained Rublev. "Yesterday some players and I had a call with Wimbledon, just to talk about the situation and try to find a solution.
To be honest, the reasons that led to the exclusion make no sense and there is no logic in what they proposed. I could have figured out if excluding Russian and Belarusian players had any impact, but it won't do any good and it won't change anything.
What they are doing is discrimination against us." Khachanov, for his part, explained: "As for Wimbledon, of course, I am sad, disappointed and devastated that these things are happening and that they have come this far.
It's one of the best tournaments in the world, at least for me. It is special. I did very well in Wimbledon last year when I reached the quarter finals. And I am very sad that I will not have the opportunity to compete and give my all in this tournament. As I said before, I am very sad about the decision made yesterday afternoon." A very complex situation.