Russian stars are eagerly waiting to see if they can play at Wimbledon after widespread visa delays affecting 16-year-old starlet Mirra Andreeva and world number 2 Daniil Medvedev
Some Russian players are anxious to know if they will be allowed to play at Wimbledon due to delays in processing their visas.
Many are known to be worried, including 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, considered the most exciting future talent in women’s football.
According to player agents, visas for those from Russia and Belarus take at least six weeks to process, and often longer as additional security checks are carried out on those from the two nations that have attacked Ukraine.
It is also known that a priority system, whereby an additional fee can be paid for an accelerated application process, is not available to them.
Apart from Andreeva, world number two Daniil Medvedev has also suggested he has to wait to find out if he can play.
Some Russian stars are anxiously waiting to find out if they will be allowed to play at Wimbledon
Mirra Andreeva, 16, and world number 2 Daniil Medvedev wait nervously
However, as one agent pointed out, many Russian tennis players reside in countries like Spain and Dubai and can travel on EU or UAE passports.
Wimbledon and UK tournaments are being forced to readmit players from Belarus and Russia this year, under threat of heavy sanctions from international tours, which have a policy of allowing them to play as neutrals.
The Home Office was not available for comment, but has previously refrained from refusing to issue visas to tennis players as it does not want to set a wider precedent.
The French Open suffered its first blemish of the tournament when Japanese player Miyu Kato accidentally hit a girl with the ball and made her cry.
Playing alongside her partner Aldila Sutjiadi from Indonesia in the third round, Kato hit a ball from her side of the net deep in the court which hit the ballerina.
There didn’t seem to be any malice or anger in the attack, although she hit the girl head-on and was clearly upset.
However, referee Alexandre Juge initially showed some leniency and issued a warning.
Then their opponents, Maria Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo, demanded that the supervisor be summoned, insisting it was a disqualification offence.
Meanwhile, the French Open suffered its first blemish of the tournament when Japanese player Miyu Kato (right) accidentally hit a girl with the ball and made her cry in women’s doubles.
After supervisor Wayne McKewen arrived in court, there was a call for tournament referee Remy Azemar, and after a break the offense was upgraded to default.
“In the end, it was the referee’s decision,” insisted Bouzkova.
“He understood the way we saw it, the way the referee saw it, and the supervisor got information from that. Obviously, they also spoke to our opponents and what they thought had happened, and that was in his hands.
On Saturday, Russian starlet Mirra Andreeva was lucky enough to escape when she angrily threw a ball into the crowd.
It seemed to have more intention, but the end result was different.
