Denis Shapovalov is against the Wimbledon ban on Russian and Belarusian players, but he also disagrees with tennis’ governing bodies’ decision to strip the grasscourt Grand Slam of ranking points, the Canadian world number 15 said yesterday.
The men’s ATP and women’s WTA last week took away ranking points from Wimbledon after its organisers decided to exclude players from Russia and Belarus in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ranking points determine a player’s ability to enter tennis events and receive seedings, so stripping them from Wimbledon effectively reduces the event to an exhibition tournament.
Shapovalov, whose mother is from Ukraine and whose father is from Russia, reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year.
He will be one of many players to be impacted by their inability to defend the points they earned last year at Wimbledon and will drop down the rankings.
“I don’t agree with either,” the 23-year-old former world number 10 told reporters after his first-round exit from the French Open. “I think first of all, if you have a pro competition, everybody should be competing.
“I completely understand the politics and the situation they’re in. But again, if you have a tennis tournament that’s supposed to have the best athletes in the world, it shouldn’t matter where you’re from.
“I also don’t agree with the ATP to take out all the points. The most guys it’s affecting are the guys in the top rankings.”
Shapovalov said most of the players were not consulted before the decision and wished the ATP had not taken all points away from the tournament.
“It’s difficult. I think they could have gone with it a different way, maybe keep 50% like they have in the past or some kind of fairness,” he said.
France appoints psychologists
The French tennis federation (FFT) has appointed a team of psychologists to help the local players amid a long dry spell in Grand Slams.
The team is led by Francisca Dauzet, a psychoanalyst who was world number two Daniil Medvedev’s mental coach from 2018-2022, and Melanie Maillard.
French male players have not won a singles Grand Slam title since Yannick Noah triumphed at Roland Garros in 1983 and while the women have been faring better, the last major winner at a singles event was Marion Bartoli – the 2013 Wimbledon champion.
“The aim is to acculturate, inform, train and support those involved in the world of tennis: players, coaches, technical staff, parents and elected representatives,” FFT technical director Nicolas Escude said yesterday.
Denis Shapovalov
