Did Daniil Medvedev take sly dig at Wimbledon? 'Can't leave grass,' says Russian after ban

Men's singles world number one Daniil Medvedev seems to have taken a sly dig at Wimbledon after the All England Club decided to ban all Russian and Belarusian players from competing at the event following the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. The Russia-Ukraine war has entered day 125, with Russian President Vladimir Putin showing no signs of relenting yet.

Daniil Medvedev takes sly dig at Wimbledon

With Russia's Daniil Medvedev banned from competing at the Wimbledon 2022 tournament, he seems to have taken a sly dig at the All England Club by taking to his official social media account and posting a picture of him playing golf alongside former German footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger. He interestingly captioned his post, "Can't leave grass,' the same surface on which the Wimbledon Grand Slam is played.

Speaking of the ban, Medvedev had earlier stated, "There has been a lot of talk around it. I just tried to follow what was happening because I don't have any decisions to make. It's right now about Wimbledon itself, the ATP, maybe the British government is involved. It's a tricky situation and like every situation in life, you ask 100 players, everybody's going to give a different opinion."

Several players have indeed had differing opinions as, on the one hand, the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have criticised Wimbledon's decision to ban Russians and Belarusians. On the other hand, Ukrainian tennis players have backed the decision and had also reportedly hoped that the US Open would follow suit, which recently opted against banning the players from these regions.

Wimbledon explain decision to ban Russian & Belarusian players

After having decided to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing at the event, Wimbledon issued a detailed statement that read, "We share in the universal condemnation of Russia’s illegal actions and have carefully considered the situation in the context of our duties to the players, to our community and to the broader UK public as a British sporting institution. We have also taken into account guidance set out by the UK Government specifically in relation to sporting bodies and events."

The statement also added, "In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players in The Championships. It is, therefore, our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to The Championships 2022."