Hertogenbosch distances himself from the Wimbledon veto of the Russians

the contest of Hertogenbosch (Netherlands)which takes place in the grass weeks before the start Wimbledonon Monday in favor of the participation of Russian and Belarusian players, against the decision adopted by Grand Slam from london

The Dutch tournament, which will be played from June 6 to 12, three weeks before Wimbledon starts, released a statement in which it reported that it agrees with the ATP and WTA’s decision to allow Russian tennis players to play. and Belarusians “under a neutral flag”

The Hertogenbosch competition, one of eight included in the ATP circuit played on grass, chose to “clarify doubts about the involvement of Daniel Medvedev and other Russian tennis players “at an event that” strongly condemned Russia’s aggression on Ukraine and stood in deep solidarity with the millions of innocent people affected by the ongoing war. “

“The international grass tournament in Hertogenbosch is also part of the ATP/WTA circuit and follows and supports the position of both international tennis organizations regarding discrimination based on nationality. This means that players from Russia and Belarus can participate in ATP/WTA tournaments in a personal capacity, under a neutral flag, ”the note said.

“Players have the right to register. Their participation is based on individual ATP/WTA rankings, so players from Russia and Belarus will be active in all international tournaments. It is not possible for individual tournaments. tournament to reject players based on nationality. The exclusion of these players from Wimbledon is based on recent guidelines from the British government. “

Players from the circuit competing in the Masters 1,000 in Madrid have recently been in this line. A) Yes, Rafael Nadal considered “very unfair” that Wimbledon vetoed the participation of Russian and Belarusian players, who could participate in other tournaments even without their flag.

“It’s very unfair to my teammates, there’s little can do, the poor guys. What’s their fault for what’s happening,” he said, anticipating some possible measure from the players’ association.

“The (British) government gave the recommendation and Wimbledon made the most drastic decision possible. We need to see the steps taken, it’s a very unfair thing for them,” he said.

Serbian Novak Djokovic also spoke on the subject. “I talked to some of the Russian players in Belgrade and it wasn’t an easy situation that they were eliminated in one of the biggest tournaments, if not the biggest in the world,” he said.

“I understand that there is frustration. ATP will look at the whole situation to see what can be done. I went through a similar thing, albeit not the same, earlier this year and I know it’s frustrating to know you can’t. Play. No, I support the decision. I don’t think it’s fair, it’s not right, but this is what it is, “he said.

On April 22, the Wimbledon tournament announced a ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players from competing in the next edition due to the war and aggression in Ukraine, accompanied by the British Tennis Federation, which would prevent Russians and Belarusians from playing of grass-court tournaments. on British soil.

The tournaments in which these players will not be able to play are as follows: Birmingham, Nottingham, Queen’s and Eastbourne. Hertogenbosch, in the Netherlands, chose, however, to allow the participation of these players.