Medvedev ready to play Wimbledon if ban on Russian players reversed
GENEVA (AFP) - World number two Daniil Medvedev insisted Sunday he was ready to play at Wimbledon if the All England Club reverses its ban on Russian players but accepted it was a "tricky situation".
Medvedev, who is returning to the tour at this week's Geneva Open following a hernia operation, said the Roland Garros warm-up tournament was his first chance to talk with other players about the ban, which was announced on April 20.
Wimbledon has been heavily criticised by both the ATP and WTA, as well as players like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, for barring Russian and Belarusian competitors over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
"There has been a lot of talk around it. I just tried to follow what's happening because I don't have any decisions to make. It's right now about Wimbledon itself, the ATP, maybe the British government is involved," Medvedev told reporters at the Eaux-Vives tennis club.
"It's a tricky situation and like every situation in life, you ask 100 players, everybody's going to give a different opinion. "I can play: I'm going to be happy to play in Wimbledon. I love this tournament.
"I cannot play: well, I'm going to try to play other tournaments and prepare well for next year if I have the chance to play."
'We can discuss'
Medvedev underwent surgery last month after losing in the quarter-finals in Miami, missing the beginning of the clay-court season.
The 26-year-old said if other players at Geneva wanted to discuss the Wimbledon ban, he was happy to talk. "Since I haven't been on the tour, I haven't talked to any of them face to face. It was the first time when I came here on Saturday when I can talk to players, and if they start talking about this, we can discuss," the US Open champion said.
"I don't know exactly what's happening, what's going to happen, if there are going to be more decisions made.
"Same about Wimbledon. I don't know if this decision is 100 per cent, and it's over."
The former world number one said he had been following what was happening in Ukraine but did not go deeply into the subject. "I was working hard on my rehab so I had some time to follow what's happening, and it's where it's at," he said.
Olympics chief Thomas Bach said in March that given the situation within Russia, if Russian athletes say little on the conflict, "you cannot interpret silence as agreement with the war. Maybe even the contrary is correct."
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