A member of the ATP Player Council has confirmed that the tour’s decision to remove ranking points from Wimbledon could be reversed following the backlash. Three-time Grand Slam champion Bruno Soares admitted the decision “could change” following talks with officials from the All England Club.
The tennis world has been rocked by both the ATP and WTA’s decision to strip all ranking points on offer at Wimbledon this year, a decision made in response to the tournament’s ban on Russians and Belarusians. Several players have come out to condemn the move, saying they weren’t consulted by the tours or their player representatives in the decision-making process, and now one of the council members has told i that the decision could be reversed.
“I get along well with all of [the board] but Wimbledon do it old school. It’s a very traditional tournament, very important. We just wish we had a little more of a voice there before the decision was made, not after,” the former doubles world No 1 said.
“There is room for change, of course, but you need room to open up and be willing to work together,” he added. Jamie Murray’s doubles partner said he wanted to see the decision altered in some way but admitted it wasn’t up to him, with the All England Club’s Chief Executive and Chairman both travelling to the French Open this week in a pre-planned visit, in which they are set to hold talks with the tours.
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“I hope [things will change] but it’s not in my hands. I think it’s all about conversation. It’s all about communication. It’s all about willing to work together,” he continued. The Brazilian also shared that he had first found out about Wimbledon’s decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players via Twitter.
He explained: “It’s very frustrating, That’s the problem when it is something related to the ATP, we find out and we were part of the decision-making but this is from Wimbledon. Wimbledon has a very tough board and the people that run Wimbledon, they make decisions and they don’t really want to talk.”
Soares also said things would have been easier if the ban was announced earlier, with talks that the government would push the tournament into barring Russian and Belarusian players unless they signed “declarations” happening for weeks before the final decision was made. “I just wish everything that’s going on right now would have been much better if it was done three months ago before the official ban decision was made,” he admitted.
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