Cameron Norrie says Wimbledon without ranking points 'will be like an exhibition'
- Sean Fisher
- 22 May 2022
The ATP and WTA announced on Friday that Wimbleon will award no ranking points due to the tournament's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing.
Following the announcement that Wimbledon will award no ranking points, British No.1 Cameron Norrie believes that the decision has given the Grand Slam the feel of an exhibition.
The decision was made due to Wimbledon holding firm on their stance to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing, due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
With the tournament scheduled to start next month, Norrie went as far as to suggest that some of the sport's top stars may withdraw if no ranking points are on offer.
"Obviously it's an extremely difficult situation with everything going on with the war, but for me it's tough," said Norrie.
"You know, having a home slam and not gaining any ranking points from that, and the tradition of it, you're not really playing for anything. You're playing this almost like an exhibition, so for me it was tough to see that.
"Obviously it's a really tricky situation but I would have liked to see it still have points, to still have something on the line.
"This changes the ranking systems a lot, they've taken away almost 6,000 points from the whole system out of nowhere, so it's going to interfere with the rankings, and then a lot of players that did well at Wimbledon last year are going to be dropping."
Norrie will first turn his attention toward's this month's French Open, and will be full of confidence after winning a first clay title in the Lyon Open earlier in May.
And with the 26-year-old enjoying a successful 2022 season so far, the Briton suggested that he'd love for points to be up for grabs during his home Grand Slam.
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The moment @cam_norrie won a fourth ATP title - and a first on clay!#OpenParc pic.twitter.com/pjmZmfv2zs
"I'd like to have points. Obviously having a home slam, and not many tournaments on the grass already, and then suddenly there's no points there.
"I understand the situation is tricky. And there's complications everywhere. But for me, that's how I feel.
"Wimbledon is still such a special event. But I think you'll see a lot of top players not playing, you know, just resting and getting ready for the hard-court events, especially those that don't worry too much about the money.
"So I could see a lot of players, well maybe a few top players, not playing because of that. It'll be interesting to see."
Norrie's French Open run starts on Monday morning, when he faces France's Manuel Guinard in the first round - they are scheduled to take to the court at 11:15 BST.
