Wimbledon:
Rublev speaks out as Russian players return after ban
THE GUARDIAN – Russian players are back at Wimbledon after the All England Club stood alone in banning them from competition in 2022, achieved nothing much for its efforts and this year backed down.
On day one of the tournament there was not much enthusiasm on anyone’s part to engage with the issue but Andrey Rublev, the men’s No 7 seed, did offer his thoughts.
The Russian said: “I think obviously there was better options. Not just to ban. Because in the end, there was no difference. [Wimbledon] did only worse to themselves.”
Rublev beat the Australian Max Purcell in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, to progress to the second round.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic, the second seed and seven-time champion, was reduced to drying Centre Court’s grass with his own towel as a mishandled rain delay meant that he and his opponent, Pedro Cachín, had to wait for nearly an hour and a half until the grass was sufficiently dry.
Despite many potential distractions in his first match of the grass-court season, Djokovic began another Wimbledon title run with a solid performance as he defeated Cachín 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to reach the second round.
“Probably, but in a good way,” Djokovic said when asked if the match was the strangest Wimbledon opener of his career.
“It was definitely frustrating of course for all the crowd waiting for us to come out on the court. And us players; we both wanted to play but the conditions were not great. Still slippery under the roof.
“Once the roof was open, it was a different story. After five, 10 minutes we were out and about.
“This is the holy grail and the temple of tennis, so to say. This court is really something special. Every time I come out, I normally come out with rackets not towels.”
In his post-match press conference, Djokovic said he did not have any issues with the umpire opting to see out the set before closing the roof. “I don’t think it has gotten too much wet from that maybe extra minute and a half or something,” he said.
“I just feel it has something to do with something else. That’s probably not a question for me. We were lucky that rain stopped so we could resume play with an open roof.”