McEnroe calls for Russian and Belarusian players to return to Wimbledon: "It’s a situation that no one wants"

John McEnroe doesn't want to see another year where Russian and Belarussian players don't play at Wimbledon as he feels it's a situation nobody wants.

Last year's Wimbledon was one that will be remembered forever as it was the first one since world war II that banned players from a country simply due to their nationality. It was a move that divided the tennis community as some welcomed it while the majority opposed it. Ukrainian players were grateful for it while a lot of tennis players spoke against it.

McEnroe was always against it as it punishes players that have very little to do with the war or politics in general. He hopes the ban is lifted this year:

“Obviously this is a horrific situation which is going on in the war and people deal with it in different ways. I disagreed with it last year that Wimbledon didn’t allow the Russians or Belarusian players to play. I would disagree with it this year. I don’t know what they’re going to do."

He added:

“It’s a situation that no one wants. So hopefully something will change that allows the players to play. It happens that in our sport, some of our top male and female players come from those two countries. They shouldn’t, I don’t believe, be punished for something that they have nothing to do with.”