MOSCOW, May 20, Andrey Senchenko. Decision of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ) not to award Wimbledon rating points after refusing to allow Russian and Belarusian players will be a lesson for the organizers of the remaining tournaments, says two-time Grand Slam winner, Olympic champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov. «The ATP decision is a good sign that indicates what will happen to the organizers other tournaments who can follow the example of Wimbledon. For them, this is a good lesson, because in this way the Grand Slam title is devalued. Despite the fact that all the top tennis players can play at the tournament and compete for the title. But the title is the title, and points are points. Glad, that the trade union, both in the Women's Tennis Association and in the men's, defends the interests and rights of its tennis players.Theoretically, only the British and Americans can prevent participation in tournaments kansy, although it seems to me that the Americans will not dare to take such a step. As for the Australians, their actions are difficult to predict. In their case, the situation is assessed 50 to 50. I myself am interested in how the situation will develop in the future. With today's ATP decision, we have seen how far the men's and women's associations are willing to go. Let's see how the tournament organizers will behave now,» Kafelnikov said. In April, the organizers of the third Grand Slam tournament of the season, because of the situation in Ukraine, refused to allow Russian and Belarusian tennis players to compete. Players from Russia and Belarus were also banned from playing at grass tournaments in the UK under the auspices of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).ATP criticized the decision of the organizers of Wimbledon and LTA.ATP criticism was supported by leading tennis players, including world number one Serb Novak Djokovic and former world number one Brit Andy Murray.
