Wimbledon officially kicks off on July 3, 2023.
An issue to watch in the weeks leading up to the iconic grass-court Grand Slam tennis tournament is the ability for players to get visas to travel to play.
It is reportedly a problem that has affected at least three players, and two of the three are definite contenders for the coveted title.
They are: Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka, and Mirra Andreeva.
What We Know
The normal visa process is expected to take four to six weeks.
There are methods to expedite the process, but the Russian and Belarusian people reportedly cannot use these processes because they are subjected to additional scrutiny.
All three players: Medvedev, Sabalenka, and Andreeva applied within a reasonable timetable to get the visa before the grass-court season kicks off.
Thus far, they have not received the needed visas.
Wimbledon Took A Stand Last Year
Though the visa process is unrelated to Wimbledon’s stand last year that Russian and Belarusian players could not compete because of the war in Ukraine, it does beg the question of whether these athletes will miss a second straight year of the tournament if the visa issues continue.
There has been a strong undercurrent, particularly on the WTA Tour, because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Sabalenka from Belarus recently stopped doing post-match press conferences in Paris at the French Open because of all of the political questions she has been bombarded with.
Issues with handshakes or no handshakes at the net and boos from the fans have dominated the headlines.
Ukraine’s most famous tennis player, Elina Svitolina, has been especially vocal about how the war has affected her homeland.
Politics And Sports Coexist
For better or worse, politics and sports share center stage when worldwide athletes convene to compete.
While Wimbledon took somewhat of a stand last year banning the Russian and Belarusian players, many disagreed with the fallout from the tournament’s position which was that the players who did compete did not earn points towards improved rankings.
That decision directly impacted Wimbledon Champion Elena Rybakina who did not see the ratings climb she would have in a regular year and played tougher draws in subsequent tournaments as a lower seed.
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club needs to get involved in whatever way possible to ensure these player visas are done so the players not only can compete at Wimbledon but also have adequate time to travel to the UK beforehand to practice or play in warm-up tournaments.
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