Tim Henman exclusive: Big names won’t skip Wimbledon; ATP, WTA ‘penalising’ players in ranking points row

Tim Henman does not expect players to skip Wimbledon despite reservations raised by Naomi Osaka over the lack of ranking points on offer.

The ATP and WTA stripped the Grand Slam of any points following the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from the tournament after Russian’s invasion of Ukraine.

John Isner, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2018, says he is “not that stoked” about the tournament because the “currency on tour is points”.

However, former British No. 1 Henman, who is on the All England Lawn Tennis Club board, hopes the tournament’s history will help attract the best players.

“This whole scenario around Russian and Belarusian players being refused entry into Wimbledon is such a difficult situation and it’s really unfortunate for all parties involved,” he told Eurosport.

“It’s not something Wimbledon really wanted but the decision Wimbledon has made has put the tours in a difficult position. At the end of the day I don’t think there are any winners out of it.

“I feel enormous sympathy for the Russian and Belarusian players that can’t play, but understanding a far bigger picture of the war and what’s being going on and the atrocities in Ukraine and let’s hope that finishes sometime soon.

“I don’t think players will end up skipping the Championships at Wimbledon; a Wimbledon title is going to be about a lot more than the ranking points. It’s a difficult situation, hopefully the history and the prestige is going to be at the forefront of players’ minds so they are going to be ready and raring to compete on the grass.”

Henman, who says he has “spoken to lots of players” about the decision, is a four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist.

He says the decision by the ATP and WTA to remove ranking points will “penalise” a lot of players.

“The ranking points are the only thing that they have had in response to Wimbledon’s decision but the reality is that they are penalising a lot of their players, whether it’s the opportunity for British players who are getting wildcards, or a player who has a breakthrough and gets to the second week, that’s a potentially life-changing performance but they won’t get the benefits of that.

“Again to me it emphasises what an extremely challenging position everyone finds themselves in.”

Wimbledon starts on Monday, June 27.

Novak Djokovic will be the defending men’s champion while Ashleigh Barty will not be back to defend her women’s title after she retired.

“I think that there [are] a lot of things that happened behind the scenes that the press are not aware of, and I think there has been a lot of mishandling of how everything was handled. We will just go from there.

“I mean, obviously I support our CEO, I support my council, I support the players. The decision that’s been taken obviously wasn’t taken lightly. I think when you are backed into a corner and that’s all you can do, I think that’s why the decision was made, and I support it.”

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