Wimbledon 2022: Who is the competition when top contenders are not playing because of the Ukraine war?

With top-seeded players including Daniil Medvedev banned from competing in Wimbledon this year, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are all set to claim the title in the race to become the greatest of all time.
Wimbledon Tennis Championships

Wimbledon is all set to see its courts filled with some of the world’s best players from Monday.

Wimbledon is all set to see its courts filled with some of the world’s best players from Monday. However, this year, the competition will have a paradigm shift as world number one Daniil Medvedev has been banned from taking part because of his nationality. He is a Russian and amidst the tense geopolitical scenario. The organisers have banned players from Russia and Belarus from playing at this year's Wimbledon following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, Germany's second-ranked Alexander Zverev is out injured.
What is the tournament all about?
The grass-court tournament — one of the four major Grand Slams in tennis — established in 1877 will take place at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in London, United Kingdom.
With record-setting prize money of £40,350,000 in 2022, over the years, Wimbledon has seen names like Roger Federer win the most number of titles in the men’s singles championships until now and Boris Becker being the youngest champion aged 17 in 1985. While the last home champion was Andy Murray who won the prestigious title in 2016, this year, world no. 3 Novak Djokovic is favoured to win the title.
Who are the top players this year?
In the absence of some of the top competitors this year for various reasons ranging from the Ukraine war to reported injuries, for the men’s singles title, Djokovic and world no. 4, Rafael Nadal, who most recently won the French Open, are expected to clash in the finals.
This year’s French Open saw a master and apprentice battle between Nadal and 23-year-old Casper Ruud. Nadal showed no mercy toward his opponent and won the match with a score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 on court Philippe Chatrier, adding another chapter to his legacy. 2022 has proven to be a fruitful year for the Spaniard because not only did he win his 14th French Open, but he also became the oldest men’s player to do so. Nadal also beat his own record of the number of Grand Slams a men’s player has had in history by securing his 22nd one at this year’s French Open. His 21st Grand Slam win was at this year’s Australian Open, and since he’s already won two of the four Grand Slams in 2022, many fans hope he can work his way toward a Calendar Grand Slam, the accomplishment of winning each of the four main championships in the same calendar season.
“It’s something that I for sure didn’t believe, that I’d be here, at 36, being competitive again. Playing in the most important court of my career one more time in a final means a lot to me, it means everything,” Nadal said after this year’s French Open. “I don’t know what can happen in the future but I’m going to keep fighting to try to keep going.”
Nadal suffers from a chronic injury in his left foot and he told Eurosport that he played the French Open final with “no feeling in the foot” after receiving an injection to anaesthetize it. While many believed that injury would prevent him from competing in Wimbledon, Nadal seems ready to keep going.
Nadal’s arch-rival, Djokovic isn’t far behind. The holder of 20 Grand Slams, Djokovic has won the Wimbledon championship more times than Nadal, claiming the title for himself six times, including 2021’s title. Nadal, on the other hand, has won the title twice, once in 2008 and then again in 2010. Djokovic suffered a tough start to the tennis calendar when he was forced out of the Australian Open due to his Covid vaccination status.
“I understand the consequences of my decision. And one of the consequences of my decision was not going to Australia, and I was prepared not to go. And I understand that not being vaccinated today, I’m unable to travel to most of the tournaments at the moment,” Djokovic told the BBC. “That is the price that I’m willing to pay.”
While Djokovic wasn’t allowed to play at the Australian Open, Wimbledon has permitted him to play. With impressive feats including winning a double Career Grand Slam, which means winning each Major twice, Djokovic seems all set to defend his crown again this year.
World no. 1, Iga Swiatek is the favourite to win the title for the women’s championships. The Pole won the French Open this year, marking her sixth straight title and 35th consecutive match win.
Followed by her is Coco Gauff, who also had an exceptional run at the Roland Garros and didn’t drop a single set in the tournament up until the final. She’s climbed to the twelfth place in terms of rankings because of her performance in the clay-court major.
Naomi Osaka, the Japanese tennis player, is the third favourite to win. Besides all of these players, Serena Williams, who hasn’t returned to the tennis court since Wimbledon 2021 is also expected to compete.
Why are some of the other top players not competing?
While Djokovic was unable to compete in the Australian Open due to his vaccination status, other players are unable to play in Wimbledon because of their nationality.
Russian and Belarusian players are banned from participating in this year’s Wimbledon because of the Russia-Ukraine war. This makes men’s world no. 1 Daniil Medvedev —
one of the highest-ranking players — to be affected. Players belonging to these countries are also not permitted to play in any of the other UK grass-court tournaments.
The governing bodies of men’s and women’s professional tennis said that the move was “unfair.” The men’s body, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) said that the decision could “set a damaging precedent for the game.”
“Discrimination based on nationality also constitutes a violation of our agreement with Wimbledon that states that player entry is based solely on ATP rankings,” the ATP added.
Djokovic also didn’t support the decision. “The players, the tennis players, the athletes have nothing to do with war. When politics interferes with sport, the result is not good,” the Serb said.
Other Russian players who will miss out on the tournament include Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who had called for the war to stop earlier this year. 20th-ranked Victoria Azarenka of Belarus will also be unable to compete. Russia’s Andrey Rublev, eighth in the men’s standing along with world no. 26, Karen Khachanov are affected, as well.
To escape the Wimbledon ban, Russian-born tennis player, Natela Dzalamidze changed her nationality to Georgian. The doubles specialist ranked as world no. 43 is now officially listed as having Georgian nationality on the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) website. A Wimbledon spokesperson said to The Times that they were unable to stop Dzalamidze, who had previously competed in the French Open under a neutral flag.
While some top players are missing this Wimbledon, other top-seeded players are all preparing to fight for the crown, and for now, it seems like there’s going to be tough competition on all courts.
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