Andy Murray is the latest player to come out in support of Ukrainian tennis players after Wimbledon lifted the ban on Russian and Belarusian players.
Murray has been involved from the start opting to help charity efforts in Ukraine through various means.
He's been more reserved when it comes to commenting on the situation but now came out in support of Ukrainian tennis players calling on the tennis community to do more to help players from that country.
Speaking to
Tennis Majors, Murray admitted he knew the lifting of the ban was coming:
“I knew kind of ahead of time that that was sort of how it was
going. I think what’s really important is to
continue to talk about what’s actually happening in Ukraine just now,
not focusing on a few tennis players and a few athletes who may or may
not be able to play major sporting events.”
Speaking further on it he said:
“It’s a difficult decision for Wimbledon. Obviously the
rest of the sport had gone in a completely different direction to them,
which made it very hard.
"But I don’t think this should be so much about
that decision. I think it is distracting a little bit from actually what
is taking place. You don’t want that to happen. You want the actual
issue to be at the forefront of all of these discussions.”
And more:
“Obviously I have sympathy for the Ukrainian players. I’ve seen that some of the female players have spoken out about how difficult they found it
and maybe felt like they could have had more support as well through
that.
"You need to understand their perspective as well, and not just the players that weren’t allowed to play last year. There are Ukrainian players on the tour whose families and everything (are affected) and they’re going through unbelievably difficult times as well. And that’s what’s important.”
