Aryna Sabalenka has revealed she initially blamed herself for the Wimbledon situation but then realized she “did nothing wrong against the Ukrainian people”. Last year, Wimbledon took a tough stance against Russian and Belarusian athletes, banning them from the championships.
Ahead of her Indian Wells campaign, Sabalenka was asked if she had any thoughts on bringing Russian and Belarusian players to Wimbledon 2023. is my fault.
But then I realized it was not in my control. I did nothing, nothing bad against the Ukrainians. It’s just not my fault,” Sabalenka said, according to Eurosport.
Sabalenka, Daniil Medvedev on the Wimbledon situation
Medvedev also shared his thoughts on the Wimbledon situation, stressing that it’s not him who makes the decision.
However, Medvedev also added that he will respect whatever Wimbledon organizers decide to do. “I’m not going to make that decision for them or even help them make that decision. They have to do it themselves for their different reasons like they did last year.
And I have always said that I will respect this decision. I play where I can play, tennis is my job so I would be really happy to play at Wimbledon. I love this tournament, but if it’s not supposed to take place, I’ll wait for the chance to go back,” Medvedev said.
Last year, some of the biggest names in men’s and women’s football missed Wimbledon because of the ban. In the men’s event, some of the names not participating were Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov. In the women’s event, Sabalenka, Daria Kasatkina and Victoria Azarenka were not allowed to participate.
Sabalenka became Grand Slam champion at the start of the 2023 season in Australia. Sabalenka is having a great start to 2023 and not having him at Wimbledon would be a blow.