"It's not their fault where they were born": Ruud supports Wimbledon ban being revoked

Norwegian tennis star Casper Ruud is in agreement with Wimbledon's recent decision to lift its ban on Russian and Belarusian players participating at this year's event.

The All England Club controversially decided to ban players from the aforementioned two countries last year, as a result of the Russia-Ukraine War. This led to the ATP and WTA stripping the tournament of all ranking points as a form of retaliation.

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Nonetheless, Wimbledon decided to overturn their original ruling this year, on the condition that players from the aforementioned countries have to sign a declaration stating their opposition to the war, among other things.

Ruud supported the decision, stating the players were not responsible for being born in those countries.

"It's not their fault where they were born," Ruud said in an exclusive interview to Eurosport. "As a colleague and opponent, you regretted that they couldn't play last year. It's one of the biggest and most historic tournaments we have, so it's kind of fair and nice that they can play again."

The World No.5 seemed overjoyed for certain players, like Russian Andrey Rublev, who has always maintained an anti-war stance from the very beginning.

"I mean, you can't ask much more from these guys," Ruud added.