The US Open will allow tennis players from Russia and Belarus to compete this year despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, which prompted Wimbledon to ban those athletes.
U.S. Tennis Association CEO and Executive Director Lew Sherr, whose group runs the US Open, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday that the USTA Board decided to let Russians and Belarusians enter the tournament because of “concern about holding the individual athletes accountable for the actions and decisions of their governments.”
Sherr said athletes from Russia and Belarus will play at Flushing Meadows under a neutral flag — an arrangement that’s been used at various tennis tournaments around the world, including the French Open, which ended June 5.
The US Open starts on Aug. 29 in New York.
Since Russia began its attacks on Ukraine in February, Russian athletes have been prevented from taking part in many sports, including soccer’s World Cup qualifying playoffs. Belarus has aided Russia in the war.
Russia also was held out of international team events in tennis, the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup. It was the reigning champion in both.
The All England Club, where main-draw play for Wimbledon starts on June 27, announced in April it would bar all Russians and Belarusians from its fields — which means the man currently ranked No. 1, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, is not eligible to participate. Medvedev is the defending champion at the US Open.
That ban drew immediate criticism from the WTA and ATP professional tennis tours, along with some prominent players, such as defending champion Novak Djokovic.
In May, the WTA and ATP said they would not award any rankings points from Wimbledon this year, an unprecedented rebuke of the All England Club. Some players, including four-time major champion and former No. 1 Naomi Osaka, said they would consider sitting out Wimbledon.
