2022 ATP General News

[Kieran]

Agreed. But I can see how it would be more difficult to get everyone to agree when they are onsite and ready to play. By making this announcement now, AELTC and the LTA are guaranteed to get some activity from the governing tennis bodies. And who knows, maybe this is their intent all along by drumming up drama that will lead to some kind of negotiation.

Good points. Negotiation with who, of course, is the question. Putin doesn’t give a hoot about anybody who doesn’t personally enrich him, or strengthen his tyranny. They’ve handed him a propaganda coup…

 

[kskate2]

Good points. Negotiation with who, of course, is the question. Putin doesn’t give a hoot about anybody who doesn’t personally enrich him, or strengthen his tyranny. They’ve handed him a propaganda coup…

I meant between the players, ATP, WTA, ITF, OC, etc. They have to realize there are future repercussions for their actions this year.

 

[Carol]

Day by day Rafa is practicing better and better, Uncle Toni says that he is going to play in Madrid

 

[Kieran]

I meant between the players, ATP, WTA, ITF, OC, etc. They have to realize there are future repercussions for their actions this year.

Ah okay, sorry, I misunderstood! It will be interesting to see what types of discussions spring up as a result of this ban..

 

[Moxie]

I mentioned it back then, but then I'm not that important. You're right though, the governing bodies, media and especially his fans don't mention it unless they want use it to denigrate Aus (he was separated from everyone and made to spend the night at the Roach Motel).

Forgive me if I missed it or forgot it. But it does get lost in the shuffle of so much thought about Novak's lack of vaccination.

 

[Moxie]

Novak Houdini Djokovic has left the staduim

Tennis Channel borrowed your line today and referred to Novak as "Houdini" in that match yesterday.

 

[Moxie]

By banning Russian and Belarus players attending Wimbledon 2022, the LTA has broken its own rules;,

1.7 value diversity,and not unlawfully discriminate against anyone,or treat anyone less favourably or unfavourably, by reason of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage, civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, ( including Color,Nationality, or Ethic or National Origins), religion belief, ( including religious,philosophical or lack of belief) sex or sexual oreintation:.

I'm giving this post from Margaret a bump to make sure everyone sees it. Looks like a quote from the LTA rulebook?

 

[kskate2]

Djoker is huffing heavily between these points. Obviously he's not conditioned yet this year.

 

[kskate2]

I'm giving this post from Margaret a bump to make sure everyone sees it. Looks like a quote from the LTA rulebook?

I saw it last night. I wonder if a lawsuit could be brought. But I have to think that they wouldn't have implemented this ban without verifying their legal standing first.

 

[Fiero425]

Djokovic finished off Miomir in 3 sets! He got better as the match went on and by the end of the 3rd set he was in "lockdown" mode and wasn't missing! Those last 2 backhands were top notch! He won it; Miomir didn't lose it really even though a couple double faults helped the cause! Very impressive match by both!

 

[Kieran]

By banning Russian and Belarus players attending Wimbledon 2022, the LTA has broken its own rules;,

1.7 value diversity,and not unlawfully discriminate against anyone,or treat anyone less favourably or unfavourably, by reason of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage, civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, ( including Color,Nationality, or Ethic or National Origins), religion belief, ( including religious,philosophical or lack of belief) sex or sexual oreintation:.

Thanks @Moxie and @MargaretMcAleer - I hadn’t seen this…

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Tennis Channel borrowed your line today and referred to Novak as "Houdini" in that match yesterday.

LOL!......

 

[Moxie]

I meant between the players, ATP, WTA, ITF, OC, etc. They have to realize there are future repercussions for their actions this year.

I think this is a good place to add this. It is NYTimes and I know will be behind a paywall for some. I'll try to quote most important bits.

Tours Argue Wimbledon Sets ‘Damaging Precedent’ in Barring Russian and Belarusian Players (Published 2022)

The men’s and women’s tours disagreed with the major tournament’s move to exclude individual athletes from those countries from competition in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

www.nytimes.com

For just over 50 days, the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation and the four Grand Slam tournaments all agreed that the proper response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus’ support, was to ban Russia and Belarus from team events but allow their players to continue competing as individuals albeit without national identification.

But Wimbledon, under pressure from the British government, broke ranks on Wednesday, and Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association also confirmed that it did not plan to allow Russian and Belarusian players to participate in the grass-court circuit that precedes Wimbledon and includes events in Eastbourne and at Queen’s Club in London.

“Given the profile of The Championships in the United Kingdom and around the world, it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible,” Wimbledon said in a statement Wednesday.

....
Wimbledon, in its statement, left open the possibility of revising its position, stating that “if circumstances change materially between now and June, we will consider and respond accordingly.” But that would likely require the British government to soften its stance or require a quick resolution of the war in Ukraine’s favor, both of which seem highly unlikely.

_______

So pressure on Wimbledon comes from the British government. It also includes all of the grass tournaments in the UK.

There are some Ukrainian players that support this. Or, as @Kieran pointed out, one like Svitolina who was ok if they denounce Putin. Tennis players are not diplomats, nor should they expected to be. Or policy makers.

Like a few have said above, I would support a boycott of Wimbledon by the players to support their fellow players, and protest the LTA breaking their own rules. Any notion that punishing individual players punishes Putin is political theatre at its worst.

I completely agree with you that the ATP, WTA, ITF need to stand with the rights of players to player, and free of political incumbrance. It's the ITF that oversees Wimbledon, so they should lead on this. WTA, once again, has the strongest stance.

I will also quote Martina Navratilova here, from the same article:

"Martina Navratilova, one of the sport’s greatest champions, said in an interview: “I don’t think this is the right thing to do” and argued that though Ukrainians are the victims in this war, banning Russian and Belarusian players makes them victims, too."

Let me make the point here that Martina, who apparently speaks fluent Russian, having grown up in the Soviet system, refused long ago to ever speak it again, so she knows what it means to boycott Russia. And probably to hate it. And she's saying not to exclude the Russian or Belarusian players. That says something to me.

 

[Carol]

What Dolgopolov says about Russian players....

 

[Kieran]

I think this is a good place to add this. It is NYTimes and I know will be behind a paywall for some. I'll try to quote most important bits.

Tours Argue Wimbledon Sets ‘Damaging Precedent’ in Barring Russian and Belarusian Players (Published 2022)

The men’s and women’s tours disagreed with the major tournament’s move to exclude individual athletes from those countries from competition in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

www.nytimes.com

For just over 50 days, the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation and the four Grand Slam tournaments all agreed that the proper response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus’ support, was to ban Russia and Belarus from team events but allow their players to continue competing as individuals albeit without national identification.

But Wimbledon, under pressure from the British government, broke ranks on Wednesday, and Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association also confirmed that it did not plan to allow Russian and Belarusian players to participate in the grass-court circuit that precedes Wimbledon and includes events in Eastbourne and at Queen’s Club in London.

“Given the profile of The Championships in the United Kingdom and around the world, it is our responsibility to play our part in the widespread efforts of government, industry, sporting and creative institutions to limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible,” Wimbledon said in a statement Wednesday.

....
Wimbledon, in its statement, left open the possibility of revising its position, stating that “if circumstances change materially between now and June, we will consider and respond accordingly.” But that would likely require the British government to soften its stance or require a quick resolution of the war in Ukraine’s favor, both of which seem highly unlikely.

_______

So pressure on Wimbledon comes from the British government. It also includes all of the grass tournaments in the UK.

There are some Ukrainian players that support this. Or, as @Kieran pointed out, one like Svitolina who was ok if they denounce Putin. Tennis players are not diplomats, nor should they expected to be. Or policy makers.

Like a few have said above, I would support a boycott of Wimbledon by the players to support their fellow players, and protest the LTA breaking their own rules. Any notion that punishing individual players punishes Putin is political theatre at its worst.

I completely agree with you that the ATP, WTA, ITF need to stand with the rights of players to player, and free of political incumbrance. It's the ITF that oversees Wimbledon, so they should lead on this. WTA, once again, has the strongest stance.

I will also quote Martina Navratilova here, from the same article:

"Martina Navratilova, one of the sport’s greatest champions, said in an interview: “I don’t think this is the right thing to do” and argued that though Ukrainians are the victims in this war, banning Russian and Belarusian players makes them victims, too."

Let me make the point here that Martina, who apparently speaks fluent Russian, having grown up in the Soviet system, refused long ago to ever speak it again, so she knows what it means to boycott Russia. And probably to hate it. And she's saying not to exclude the Russian or Belarusian players. That says something to me.

I think that the AELTC and the LTA were responsible for this decision, and it’ll most likely backfire. They certainly consulted with the government but I don’t think they were pressured to do this, and it would be very unusual if they were - although both the government and the main opposition party welcomed the move. The UK government have taken a strong belligerent stance against Putin, but I doubt they applied pressure on the AELTC, which were then followed by the LTA in banning players from other grass court tournaments. I’m not sure what form pressure might take in a situation like this. They’re very free to choose for themselves, and I believe they chose wrongly, and I’m glad they’ve given themselves some small wiggle room to change their minds. The guardian article linked above in my post quoted Reilly Opelka as saying “I feel everything is headed towards a lawsuit”, and both unfortunately and hopefully, I think he’s right. This is a difficult time for Wimbledon. They borrowed from the modern woke playbook, trying to cancel somebody. Hopefully we don’t get usually happy result of that, which is that they go broke. Their reputation has certainly taken a hammering…

 

[Moxie]

I think that the AELTC and the LTA were responsible for this decision, and it’ll most likely backfire. They certainly consulted with the government but I don’t think they were pressured to do this, and it would be very unusual if they were - although both the government and the main opposition party welcomed the move. The UK government have taken a strong belligerent stance against Putin, but I doubt they applied pressure on the AELTC, which were then followed by the LTA in banning players from other grass court tournaments. I’m not sure what form pressure might take in a situation like this. They’re very free to choose for themselves, and I believe they chose wrongly, and I’m glad they’ve given themselves some small wiggle room to change their minds. The guardian article linked above in my post quoted Reilly Opelka as saying “I feel everything is headed towards a lawsuit”, and both unfortunately and hopefully, I think he’s right. This is a difficult time for Wimbledon. They borrowed from the modern woke playbook, trying to cancel somebody. Hopefully we don’t get usually happy result of that, which is that they go broke. Their reputation has certainly taken a hammering…

I agree with a lot of this, though I wonder that you think that there is no political pressure at all. But no matter. Still, I don't think you mean the 'woke' playbook..."wokeness" has nothing to do with it. Nor cancel culture. If anything they're trying to be "PC." Though it strikes me more as some old-fashioned WWII bit of Britishness. Plus, if the French aren't going to do it, then the Brits certainly are. LOL.

 

[Kieran]

I agree with a lot of this, though I wonder that you think that there is no political pressure at all. But no matter. Still, I don't think you mean the 'woke' playbook..."wokeness" has nothing to do with it. Nor cancel culture. If anything they're trying to be "PC." Though it strikes me more as some old-fashioned WWII bit of Britishness. Plus, if the French aren't going to do it, then the Brits certainly are. LOL.

I think there’s no pressure because it’s reported that they went through a consultation process, they also checked the legality of the move, etc, and then they decided. I don’t know why the NYT said the government applied pressure. I’m not - by the way - saying there was no pressure. I just haven’t seen any evidence of that. If there’s evidence of it, then that’s not a good thing.

I think this is a mistake by the AELTC and the LTA, and unfortunately the British government and opposition applaud it, which is not a good development. I don’t see it as British nationalism either. The UK have been good on the war so far, and I read that they’re also looking at some exports from the Xinjiang region from China, due to the obvious human rights abuses there against the Uighur Muslims. I think this kind of thinking is long overdue in the west. Nothing to do with tennis! But possibly revealing an examination of ethics and how they want to deal with tyrants, which is reflected in their support for Ukraine, and their support for the AELTC and the LTA.

I think of course that they’re wrong in this instance, but I place the blame on the LTA and AELTC, who, by the way, have also said they consulted the relevant international tennis authorities, presumably the ITF, the ATP and the WTA. Legally, as we’ve seen from a previous post, they may still have left an open goal for any challenge.

As for the woke remark, I didn’t mean that they’re acting from a woke mentality, but that they’re doing the same as woke people who try to cancel somebody for the most spurious reasons. I don’t even think the AELTC and LTA are acting PC - I just think they’ve gotten caught up in the horrible brouhaha and overestimated themselves with regards to how they can help Ukraine.

Hopefully an adult in the room there will speak to them soon…

 

[rafanoy1992]

It looks we will get a Tsisipas-Alcaraz Clay court match later today. It will be interesting how this match will fare on Clay court.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Felix looks good vs Shortman so far today.. Is Toni traveling with him this week?

 

[kskate2]

Felix looks good vs Shortman so far today.. Is Toni traveling with him this week?

Well he wouldn't have far to travel would he? I mean last week he went all the way to MC. Furthermore, he only looked good in the first set. Since then he lost focus and let Shortman boss him around. Now he's lost in 3. Really characteristic of the way he's playing since winning his maiden title.