Reports suggesting that Wimbledon will be stripped of ranking points

This year’s Wimbledon Championships could be entering into chaos after multiple reports suggest that there is growing support for the ATP to take a hardline approach to the tournament after the Russia ban.

According to multiple British media sources, the ATP Tour player representatives have endorsed the unprecedented move to remove all ranking points from the Grand Slam, as well as other events taking place in Britain this year.

Last month The All England Club and the British Lawn Tennis Association became the first organisations in the sport to ban Russian and Belarussian players over the war in Ukraine. It was agreed by tennis’ seven governing bodies that those players would be allowed to play on the Tour but only as neutral athletes.

The bold move has prompted criticism from many leading names on the Tour. Former Wimbledon champions Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have all previously voiced their opposition. Emergency talks are now set to take place amid the threat of removing points from Wimbledon.

Each of the four Grand Slam tournaments has the biggest number of ranking points on offer on the Tour with the singles winner being awarded 2000 points. Whilst Wimbledon is independent of the Tour, it is the ATP that has control over the allocation of ranking points. It is also unclear as to what action the women’s WTA Tour will take and if they will follow the same rumoured approach as the ATP.