World number eight Andrey Rublev blasted Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players as “complete discrimination” on Thursday while Belarus officials said the decision will only “incite hatred” and threatened legal action to have the sanction overturned.
“The reasons they (Wimbledon) gave us had no sense, they were illogical,” said Rublev on the sidelines of the Belgrade ATP event.
“What is happening now is complete discrimination against us.”
Wimbledon on Wednesday banned all Russian and Belarusian players from taking part in this year’s Grand Slam event in response to the invasion of Ukraine.