The 2023 season turned out to be quite successful for Russian tennis. National fans have become accustomed in recent years to two of our players qualifying for the Final Tournament at the same time. And this time the boys did not disappoint. Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Rublev managed to enter the top eight players and played in Turin (Italy).
Andrey, unfortunately, suffered three defeats in the group and did not reach the semi-finals. Daniil passed the preliminary phase, but then could not face the owner of the slopes, Jannik Sinner. And on November 27, six Russian tennis players were in the top 50 of the ATP rankings! National athletes participated in 18 ATP finals in 2023, a record number.
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The fair sex did not show such outstanding results: none of our girls qualified for the final championship in singles, but Vera Zvonareva not only went to Cancun in doubles, but also won it together with her regular partner, Laura Siegemund from Germany.
Furthermore, all of the athletes mentioned above have been performing in international tournaments without a flag or anthem for the last year and a half. The lives of tennis players changed radically on March 1, 2022. As a result, our players are now unable to participate in the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup, where national teams participate, but compete for trophies only in individual competitions. It is worth noting that tennis fans know very well which countries their idols represent. However, some international organizations are increasingly specifically looking for new reasons to “cancel” Russians and Belarusians. Last week, just like last season, Britain once again found itself involved in a nasty prank.
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New scandal
Why is the British sports channel Sky Sports famous? The fact that he is a long-time partner of the ATP and WTA. Last week the company acquired the rights to broadcast international tournaments for five years in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. To mark the occasion, Sky Sports published a poster of the best players on social media. But, surprisingly, there were no athletes from Russia and Belarus in the photo.
SKY SPORTS poster
Photo: SKY SPORTS
Of the iconic tennis players, for example, there was no place on the poster for the 2023 Australian Open champion, world number two Aryna Sabalenka, or for the 2022 Roland Garros semi-finalist Daria Kasatkina. At the same time, in the picture you can see Elena Rybakina representing Kazakhstan.
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Sabalenka has $8.2 million in prize money for the season and is in second place. And among the top 15 there is only one Russian woman.
In the case of men, the third and fifth rackets in the world are missing from the lineup, the Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev. Even UK fans paid attention to this. Many fans of Sabalenka, Medvedev and Rublev flooded Sky Sports posts with comments.
“Where are Medvedev and Sabalenko? And with all due respect to Jodie Burrage, how did she end up in this photo? Why did you choose the photo of Osaka with the big bandage on her leg? Hahaha,” wrote user TheTennisTalker, specifically indicating their flags next to each player’s name.
“Horrible graphics. There is no Sabalenka, no Medvedev, no Rublev, and Carlos Alcaraz and Cori Gauff seem bigger than Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek (both tennis players are the first rackets in the world and just won the Finals),” said a fan with the nickname Rodney .
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“It’s curious that the second racket in the world, Arina Sabalenka, the third number in the ATP ranking, Daniil Medvedev, and the fifth racket in the world, Andrey Rublev, simply disappeared,” a fan with the nickname Arianna left a comment, attaching a “clown”. emoticon.
At the same time, the largest photographs on the poster were given to the American Cori Gauff (third number in the WTA ranking) and the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (2nd, ATP). They turned out to be noticeably larger than the world’s first rackets – Serbian Novak Djokovic and Polish player Iga Swiatek.
“Why is Cori Gauff’s photo so big? Where is Arina Sabalenka? – user Sam Culmer left a dissatisfied comment, attaching the “crying eagerly” and “clown” emoji.
“Where have Rublev, Medvedev and Sabalenko gone? What happened to Corey and Carlos’s faces, which are bigger than the current World No. 1? How ashamed you must feel, Sky Sport! Do it better!” — user Irene was outraged and added the “vomiting” emoji.
“Does the fact that Medvedev, Rublev and Sabalenka not be on your poster mean that you won’t show their matches?” — a fan with the nickname Teresa Ganim asks a logical question.
“What do the ATP and WTA think about this Sky Sports promotion, which is missing world number three Daniil Medvedev and world number two Aryna Sabalenka?” — user Elena Shushunova addresses international organizations.
Discrimination at Wimbledon
It is not the first time that the tennis world condemns the actions of the British towards Russian and Belarusian tennis players. Still fresh in the memories of fans is the scandalous decision of the Lawn Tennis Association of this country (or LTA), according to which national athletes were not allowed to participate in the ATP and WTA tournaments in the United Kingdom in 2022, including Wimbledon. due to discrimination on national grounds.
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The decision affected both adult and youth tournaments. The reaction of the world tennis community was then very stormy.
“I do not agree with this ban. I don’t understand how they could influence the situation. I don’t think it was right,” Djokovic told Mundo Deportivo.
Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios is no less direct and harsh in his statements than on the court.
“My personal opinion is that I don’t think suspension is a good idea. As an athlete, I want to compete with them. Disappointed that they won’t be here. It is strange that Daniil Medvedev does not play at Wimbledon, we all know what he is capable of.”
“This is a mistake by the organizers. What should Russians and Belarusians do? Leave the country? “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” said an indignant Martina Navratilova, 18-time Grand Slam singles champion.
The Russians and Belarusians returned to the grass competition only a year later. The British press subsequently noted that the suspension turned out to be a mistake, and it took a full 12 months and brilliant performances from the returning athletes to realize this. According to rumors, the decision to ban players from these countries was made under pressure from the royal family: they say that the Princess of Wales, also known as Kate Middleton, obviously did not want to find herself in a situation where she had to hand over the trophy to a representative of Russia or Belarus.
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Will the British admit their obvious mistake again? Will Sky Sports replace the sensational poster with a new one, but with the faces of Sabalenka, Medvedev and Rublev? Will the television company pay for its unfair decision?
Will its owners have an unpleasant conversation with world tennis leaders? Now no one can answer these questions. However, I would like to believe that justice will be restored and discrimination against players from Russia and Belarus on the basis of nationality will finally stop.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS