Jamie Murray believes the clash between Wimbledon and professional tennis tours over the elimination of qualifying points for the tournament is a “mess” with players caught in the middle.
Speaking ahead of his men’s doubles match in the second round of the French Open with Bruno Soares on Friday, Murray said he believes most players would prefer to play with ranking points and said the UK government had put Wimbledon in a difficult position in the eyes of Russia. invasion of Ukraine. The All England Club has banned Russian and Belarusian players, and the ATP and WTA have withdrawn ranking points as a result.
“I understand the situation Wimbledon is in,” Murray said. “The government giving informal guidance is not helping anyone because it is pressuring Wimbledon not to have Russian and Belarusian athletes in its tournament.
“Then it becomes uncomfortable and that’s why we are in this situation with classification points and breaching agreements and things like that. Unfortunately, it is the players who are in the middle. “
Murray continued: “It’s an unfortunate situation that doesn’t seem to have a big result for anyone and here we are. I hope things change, but I don’t know if that’s the case. It seems like everything is a bit messy.”
Murray has led his own lower-level tournaments in the past and noted that he has friends at ATP, Wimbledon and LTA. He also articulated the difficult position the ATP found in the wake of the Wimbledon decision.
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“The tour is based on entry based on classification and not country of origin,” he said. “I guess the concern for the tour is where it ends? What if next week another country says we don’t want Spanish or British players in our tournament?
“The tour has to take a stand. They don’t seem to have many options at their disposal, but obviously the ranking points are the most important to them and what separates the Grand Slams from our Masters tournaments in the ATP. “