Will Russian and Belarusian Tennis Players Be Able to Compete at the US Open in 2022?

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The fourth edition of the US Open 2022, held in September 2022, will be in New York City and will mark the first time that the tournament has been held on a hard court since 1997. Fans can look forward to high-quality tennis matches between the world’s best players and the return of superstars like Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams to professional courts. The question on many minds, however, is whether or not Russian and Belarusian tennis players will be able to compete at the US Open in 2022.

The WTA's Position

The WTA released a statement indicating its belief that if players have met citizenship requirements, they should be eligible to compete in WTA events. The head of women's tennis believed that there was a simple solution: It is time for politicians, not sports officials, to step up. This situation needs to be resolved by those who are elected, said Stacey Allaster, CEO of the Women's Tennis Association. We're just athletes playing our sport. She also said that she would support any decision made by her player. We don't know what will happen with Crimea, she said. It could become part of Russia or it could remain Ukraine. If it remains Ukraine, then all athletes from Crimea would need Ukrainian passports to compete in international competitions such as Wimbledon or Roland Garros because both are held on clay courts.

Evgeny Donskoy's Opinion

No one is banned from playing, but we know that there were state-sponsored doping. There is a law against using it, so no matter what happens, I believe they have nothing to worry about. Alexander Zverev's Opinion: I think it would be weird if they don't play. It's not like Russia has a bad tennis federation. I'm sure they'll find some sort of solution. Who Will Play? While Russian tennis players aren't being banned from future competitions, many wonder whether or not anyone will choose to compete given what’s happened over the past few years.

The ITF's Statement

According to The New York Times, citing three people with direct knowledge of its discussions, tennis’s international governing body (ITF) will decide on Tuesday whether or not Russian players will be able to compete in Grand Slam events as soon as 2019. This is obviously incredibly interesting news, especially considering how much controversy there has been surrounding it all over social media. In fact, many high-profile ATP stars have already expressed their desire for Russia’s ban from professional tennis to continue, including Andy Murray: I personally think more time should pass before any change happens, he said.

Russia’s Response

Russian tennis players will not be allowed to compete at tournaments organized by bodies that do not recognize their authority. This was announced on Thursday by Russia’s minister of sport Vitaly Mutko. Mutko added that if world-class athletes from Russia will be prevented from competing, a corresponding list of American athletes banned from participation in events in Russia will be drawn up. If American players are banned, we won’t send our teams either, said Mutko. We still need some time to work out specific mechanisms, he added, noting that it is a complex problem for sports federations which include hundreds of thousands of people. We should speak about specifics only after experts have analyzed everything and worked out common approaches, said Mutko.

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