By: Emily Li

Another year of Wimbledon came and went at the ‘All England Club.’ This was not a normal year, however, as professional tennis players were stripped of ranking points in this year’s event due to the Russia and Ukraine war. Many pros who had a great run in this tournament were upset by this.

The Russia and Ukraine war caused many European nationals to speak out against Russia. This includes cutting off trade with the country and in sports, banning Russian and Belarusian players. That was no different for tennis, as the ‘All England Club,’ where Wimbledon is hosted, forbade professional tennis players from the two countries to attend. The decision caused the WTA and ATP Tour to strip points off players in the tournament no matter how well they did. That affected many players who were looking forward to a major ranking boost.

Nick Kyrgios had a great run at the ‘All England Club’ this year. He made it to the finals of Wimbledon with a ranking of 40. As a finalist in a Grand Slam, he should have gotten at least 1,200 ranking points. That would have brought his position from 40th in the world to 15th; he now remains intact with his ranking.

Tatjana Maria, a 34-year-old mother of two, recently came back on tour. After giving birth to her second child just last April, she reached the semifinals of Wimbledon for the first time. Maria has never made it past the third round of any slam despite 34 attempts. “Now she makes a good run and she doesn’t have points,” said Ons Jabeur, who beat Maria in the remaining four. Her current ranking is 103 and would have jumped to 37, a career high, if she had gotten the points.

In future high-profile tournaments, Kyrgios would have been a much more likely seed. If Tatjana Maria got her ranking points from Wimbledon, she would have access to any WTA tournaments immediately. However, now she might have to go through qualifying in order to play. “This tournament is what people, we tennis players, play for,” ended Todd Woodbridge.

Links:

● https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1657470572939x696971274619894800/Wimbledon_%20Nick%20Kyrgios%2C%20Liam%20Broady%20and%20Tatjana%20Maria%20affected%20by%20rankings%20decision%20-%20BBC%20Sport.pdf

● https://www.tennis.com/baseline/articles/mother-of-two-tatjana-maria-still-on-diaper-duty-despite-maiden-wimbledon-semifi