A delay in gaining a visa to enter the United Kingdom has left some Russian and Belarusian players wondering if they will be able to compete at Wimbledon next month.
Players from those nations were banned from competing last summer following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Belarus has supported the action from Moscow.
The ban was lifted this spring, but some players report they have yet to receive their required paperwork, The Telegraph reported Sunday. Those who don’t have their visas face standards delays, plus an increased security check for Russians and Belarusians.
On the women’s side, two of the Top 10 players are from those countries. No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka is from Belarus, and No. 9 Daria Kasatkina is Russian.
Among the men, No. 2 Daniil Medvedev and No. 7 Andrey Rublev are from Russia.
The report did not specify whether those players have their visas in hand.
The Telegraph reported that Mirra Andreeva, a 16-year-old Russian qualifier who made a splash at the French Open this week, applied within the required time to get a visa but still hasn’t gotten it.
“My next tournament has to be Wimbledon. But I don’t get my visa yet, so we will see if I can participate in Wimbledon or not,” Andreeva told reporters. “But if not, we will just choose the tournaments and I will just maybe play some ITFs.”
And there is no guarantee she will be invited to qualify even if she has her visa. The Telegraph reported that since the invasion of Ukraine, no Grand Slam tournaments have offered a wild-card entry to players from Russia or Belarus.
Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova would need a wild card to qualify for Wimbledon, but she said she knows that will not happen, per the report.
“Are you serious?” she said. “Do you think after the situation last year they would give me a wild card this year?”
Wimbledon will be played June 3-16 in London.
–Field Level Media