Tennis star Andy Murray wants the tennis world to do more to support not just the Ukrainian players but Ukraine in general. Murray had himself donated all his earnings from prize money in 2022, totaling over 630,000 Euros to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
“I knew kind of ahead of time that was sort of how it was going,” Murray told Tennis Majors at the Monte-Carlo Masters after his first-round exit on Monday. “I think what’s really important is to continue to talk about what’s actually happening in Ukraine just now, not focusing on a few tennis players and a few athletes who may or may not be able to play major sporting events,” the Brit added.
Murray also talked about how it was difficult for the Wimbleton to extend their ban on Russian and Belarusian players because they were the only ones among the other Grand Slams to do so. Also Read: Liam Broady Says Tennis Players Should Feel Comfortable Coming Out Openly As Gay
Andy Murray says despite Wimbledown’s recent decision, the discussion around war shouldn’t stop
Last year the grass-court tournament banned the participation of the aforementioned players in the tournament. Owing to this controversial decision, the British Lawn Tennis Association was threatened that its grass-court tournaments might face removal from the official calendar. But in 2024, Wimbledon lifted the ban, however, they’ll only allow the participants on the basis of neutrality. Also Read: Patrick Mouratoglou Calls Novak Djokovic The ‘GOAT’; Opines That Carlos Alcaraz Is More Impressive Than The Serb
“It’s a difficult decision for Wimbledon,” Murray said. “Obviously the rest of the sport had gone in a completely different direction to them, which made it very hard. But I don’t think this should be so much about that decision. I think it is distracting a little bit from actually what is taking place. You don’t want that to happen. You want the actual issue to be at the forefront of all of these discussions,” he added.
Notably, the 36-year-old was bestowed with the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award in 2022 by the ATP for his humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. Wimbledon also is likely to announce further support in the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine this year. They provided a lot last year through the Wimbledon Foundation.
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