Wimbledon 2023: The omens are not good for a carefree women’s tournament

What to expect. Last year’s winner Elena Rybakina, the Russian-born Kazakhstani who won the title but could not be awarded any ranking points for beating Ons Jabeur in the final, continues to recover from a virus after withdrawing from Roland-Garros and the Eastbourne tournament.

She was the talk of the town last year; although, in the wake of intense questioning about her Russian past, her second week became a weary interrogation.

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Wimbledon being Wimbledon, Rybakina was asked repeatedly, to the point of tears, about being Moscow-born and Kazakhstani by design. Focus settled on her after the tournament declared that no Russians could play, a move that left tennis’s governing bodies, the ATP and WTA, clearly unimpressed.

The All England Club’s 2022 stance was that the tournament had a “responsibility” to help “limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible”. It was the only Grand Slam of the four to bar players from both countries, marking the first time individuals were banned on the grounds of nationality since the post second World War era, when German and Japanese players were excluded.

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This year the All England Club changed its mind with Russian and Belarusian players permitted to compete provided they remain neutral and are not funded by the regimes, with the club stating several players had signed personal declarations that will clear them to compete as neutrals. But already their inclusion has thrown up the spectre of propaganda value if either nationality wins the tournament. That’s a possibility.

Organisers hope interest will concentrate on the tennis, but after two virus-hit years followed by the ban, the omens are not good for a carefree tournament, especially in the women’s side of the draw.

Last month in Paris, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina accused Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka of encouraging French Open fans to boo her by waiting at the net for a handshake following their quarter-final match.

Svitolina has not shaken hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents since Ukraine was invaded. Before her loss to Sabalenka, she made clear she would again avoid it.

Everywhere efforts have been made to erase Russian and Belarusian identities. In the women’s tennis WTA world rankings, Iga Świątek is top with her country listed as Poland and represented by the Polish flag.

Second is Sabalenka with a blank for her nationality and no flag representation. Every Russian or player from Belarus in the draw has a blank opposite their names for nationality and flag.

In the top 40 ranked players, there are eight with blanks for their nationality and flag, and two players from Ukraine, Anhelina Kalinina ranked 26 and Marta Kostyuk at 35, where flag and nationality are listed. Svitolina, who played her first Grand Slam in Paris since giving birth last October, is ranked at 75.

It remains a possibility, even a concern, that English sensibilities could be bruised at the prospect of their beloved patron, the Princess of Wales, presenting a trophy to a Russian or Belarusian player. How they choreograph that, if it happens, will be an ongoing narrative running through the tournament. Kensington Palace has played it down. But if Sabalenka makes a decent run into the second week, attitudes will certainly evolve.

Świątek, a former junior Wimbledon champion, arrives as a favourite again after winning at Roland-Garros, with a healthy Rybakina and Sabelanka also among the picks to be in contention.

The top seed also said the sport had missed an opportunity to send a strong message to Moscow by failing to impose a blanket ban on players from Russia and Belarus.

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Jabeur, a breath of fresh air last year, hopes to become the first Arab woman to win a Grand Slam. The Tunisian took her trailblazing career to new heights by becoming the first African and Arab tennis player to reach a Grand Slam singles final at Wimbledon 2022 before falling to Rybakina.

She followed that up two months later, when she reached the US Open final, losing against Świątek, ending the year ranked number two, the highest-ranked African and Arab player in history.

The women’s event will be a two-week affair of an Arab, Russians and Belarusians, with tennis covering the cracks. Then there are the Americans, Jessica Pegula ranked four and Coco Gauff at seven. Enough narratives to interest all.