Top players might skip Queen's Club if points are stripped

Tennis stars may skip the Cinch Championships at Queen's Club if ranking points are removed or halved from the event following Wimbledon's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players.

The board of the ATP convened on Wednesday to discuss the next steps in the wake of Russian and Belarusian players being banned from competing in the sport’s most prestigious tournament. That meeting came after the player council, which includes Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, voted in favour of stripping Wimbledon of ranking points, which needs to be approved by a seven-man ATP Board.

The idea of halving the number of points on offer is also on the table, another reason which may deter some players from competing in the UK this summer, including the Cinch Championships at Queen's Club in West Kensington, the most famous pre-Wimbledon event. Nothing is certain for now but if reports come true we might see a very different grass season.