Unfair for Russian players to be banned: Nadal

Wimbledon's unilateral decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from this year's grasscourt Grand Slam is continuing to have a ripple effect across the sport.

MADRID

The decision to exclude some of the best tennis players in the world like men's second-ranked Daniil Medvedev, the reigning US Open winner, has been met with fury, not only from the ATP and WTA circuits, but also from their peers.

Australian Open champion and record 21-time Major champion Rafael Nadal labelled the ban - imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and in accordance with the stance taken by the British government as unfair.

"I think it's very unfair to my Russian tennis mates, my colleagues. In that sense, it's not their fault what's happening in this moment with the war," the Spaniard said ahead of his last-32 match today at the Madrid Open today, where he will make his comeback after several weeks out with a cracked rib.

"Let's see what happens in the next weeks, if the players will take some kind of decision... there's one thing that's negative, there are things that are clear. When the government imposes some restrictions, you just have to follow them."