. Naomi Osaka Says She Might Skip ‘Kind of Pointless’ Wimbledon After Tournament Stripped of Ranking Points For Banning Russians - News Times

Naomi Osaka Says She Might Skip ‘Kind of Pointless’ Wimbledon After Tournament Stripped of Ranking Points For Banning Russians

By News Here - 12:07

Naomi Osaka

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Former world number one women’s tennis player Naomi Osaka said she is considering skipping Wimbledon when speaking to the press after her first-round exit at the French Open on Monday.

“I would love to go just to get some experience on grass, but at the same time, for me, it’s kind of – I don’t want to say pointless, no pun intended,” said Osaka, joking about the fact that Wimbledon was stripped of ranking points over its ban of Russian and Belarussian players.

“But I’m the type of player that gets motivated by seeing my ranking go up. So I think the intention was really good, but the execution is kind of all over the place,” Osaka added.

The Friday decision by the ATP and WTA, the men’s and women’s tours, to downgrade Wimbledon, the most prestigious event in professional tennis, to essentially an exhibition was met with surprise and confusion by fans and players alike. Wimbledon begins on June 28th in London.

“I’m not sure why, but If I play Wimbledon without points, it’s more like an exhibition,” Osaka added. “I know this isn’t true, right? But my brain just like feels that way. I just can’t go at it 100%. I didn’t even make my decision yet, but I’m leaning more towards not playing given the current circumstances, but that might change.”

Sloan Stephens, a member of the WTA’s players’ council, supported the decision by the WTA to strip Wimbledon of points.

“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,” Stephens said, according to ESPN.

“I think when you look at the principles and what our tour stands for, discrimination will never be tolerated,” Stephens, a former U.S. Open Champion, said. “That’s exactly what’s happening. As long as that’s in play, there is no points, there is no points, but we are not going to pick and choose when that works.

U.S. men’s player John Isner echoed Osaka’s sentiment, “I mean, it’s still Wimbledon, right? Someone is going to get crowned the champion.”

“They are just not going to get 2000 points. It’s definitely a different feel. I don’t know how I’m going to adjust to it,” he added.

“Right now, truthfully, I’m not that stoked about Wimbledon. I might just show up on Saturday and maybe I will play Monday and see what happens. Because, you know, our currency on tour is points,” Isner added.

The post Naomi Osaka Says She Might Skip ‘Kind of Pointless’ Wimbledon After Tournament Stripped of Ranking Points For Banning Russians first appeared on Mediaite.

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