French Open: Rublev wants tennis to ‘work together’ so grand slam greats Nadal and Djokovic get a shot at history

Wimbledon
was
last
week
stripped
of
its
ranking
points
by
the
WTA
and
ATP
over
the
decision
from
The
All
England
Club
to
ban
Belarusian
and
Russian
players
–
including
Rublev
–
from
competing.

That
decision
was
made
in
the
midst
of
Russia’s
ongoing
invasion
of
Ukraine.

With
ranking
points
now
not
on
offer,
several
high-profile
players,
including
former
WTA
number
one
Naomi
Osaka,
have
suggested
they
may
skip
the
tournament.

Rublev
might
have
no
choice
not
to
compete
at
Wimbledon,
unless
The
All
England
Club
scraps
the
ban
altogether,
but
he
says
it
is
of
utmost
importance
that
tennis
comes
together
to
find
a
solution.

And
Rublev
believes
the
very
elite
players
–
such
as
Nadal
and
Djokovic
–
will
compete
anyway,
regardless
of
ranking
points
or
prize
money,
as
he
suggested
tennis
owes
the
duo,
along
with
fellow
great
Roger
Federer.

He
told
a
news
conference:
“I
don’t
know,
because
I
haven’t
talked
with
any
player
about
it,
especially
top
ones.
I
guess
the
top
players,
especially
Rafa,
Novak,
they
are
not
playing
now
for
points
or
for
money.

“They
are
playing
to
be
the
first
in
history
who
achieve
this
amount
of
slams.
So
they
are
playing
for
a
different
thing.
That’s
why
it’s
very
important
to
work
together,
to
keep
this
amazing
glory
that
we
are
having
now,
because
of
these
players.

106
–
Rafael

#Nadal
has
won
106
matches
at
the

#RolandGarros
becoming
the
male
player
with
the
most
wins
in
a
single
Grand
Slam
tournament
in
the
Open
Era.
King.#ATP
pic.twitter.com/l9sU5a1aWD

—
OptaAce
(@OptaAce)

May
24,
2022

“If
we
are
not
going
to
work
together,
we
just
destroy
it.
What
Roger,
what
Rafa,
what
Novak
is
doing,
they
did
all
these
years.

“They
are
other
players
from
another
generation,
and
we
have
to
respect
this,
and
that’s
why
somehow
we
need
finally
to
defend
each
other.
Players
need
to
defend
the
tournaments.
Tournaments
need
to
defend
the
players.

“Like
this,
tennis
will
grow,
grow,
grow
a
lot,
because
now
all
the
success
of
tennis
is
only
because
of
these
three
players,
because
of
Roger,
Rafa
and
Novak.”

Rublev
came
through
his
first-round
match
at
Roland
Garros
on
Tuesday,
defeating
Kwon
Soon-woo
6-7
(5-7)
6-3
6-2
6-4.

However,
the
seventh
seed
lashed
out
after
losing
the
first
set,
recklessly
hitting
a
ball
out
onto
the
court
as
he
approached
his
chair,
before
slamming
a
water
bottle
into
the
court
in
frustration.

“I
was
quite
tight,
and
I
had
a
lot
of
emotions
and
I
tried
to
really
control
them,”
Rublev
said.

“I
tried
to
understand
the
situation.
Be
positive.
I
was
able
to
be
quiet
and
just
be
positive
basically
until
the
end
of
the
first
set.
Then,
yes,
I
lost
my
mind
for
a
moment,
and
of
course
I
regret
what
I
did.

“It’s
unacceptable
to
hit
the
ball
the
way
I
hit
it.
It’s
more,
I
don’t
know,
better
even,
if
I
just
hit
the
racquet
on
the
seat,
because
the
ball
can
affect
–
I
mean,
it’s
not
about
me
–
it
can
affect
someone.
That’s
when
the
problem
comes.

“This
is
unprofessional
from
my
side,
and
hopefully
I
will
never
do
it
again.”