It’s decided! Russian and Belarusian tennis players will be able to compete at the US Open. But there’s a catch

Thanks to a controversial decision by Wimbledon organisers, athletes from Russia and Belarus will not take part in the biggest tennis event in the UK. Now the same issue has arisen for the organisers of the US Open. They finally decided to allow their participation, but they have one condition.

Both tennis organizations WTA and ATP reacted to the decision of Wimbledon not to allow the participation of players from Russia and Belarus in a decisive way, namely that this year no points will be awarded from this tournament to the world ranking.

The British organisers’ decision had political overtones due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian and Belarusian troops.

The USTA (United States Tennis Association) wanted to avoid the same scenario as Wimbledon. Therefore, in an official statement, it faced the whole situation head-on.

“Each of the organisations had to deal with extraordinary circumstances. Based on ours, we will allow all eligible players to compete in the US Open, regardless of nationality,” the USTA said in its statement.

The only rule the organizers are requiring is that athletes from Russia and Belarus will compete in the tournament under a neutral flag. The same was the case at this year’s French Open.

For example, the current world number one, Russian Daniil Medvedev, who will be defending his title from last year, can participate in the tournament.

Source: USTA, Twitter