sport news John McEnroe and Tim Henman clash over Wimbledon's ban on Russian players trends now
Tennis icons John McEnroe clashed in an awkward live TV debate over Wimbledon's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from their tournament this summer - with the ATP and WTA stripped it of its ranking points after the controversial move.
Wimbledon will now effectively be an exhibition and there has been a suggestion that players could skip the competition entirely.
The All-England club have stood with the UK Government to condemn Russia for their invasion of Ukraine and said they 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'.
Seven-time Grand Slam winner McEnroe said the tournament's organisers made a 'mistake' during an appearance on Eurosport and 'went after' fellow pundit Henman, the former British No 1, for defending their decision, and claiming players could end up boycotting it.
'I'm gonna go after Mr Henman because I think it was a mistake by Wimbledon to do what they did in the first place, kicking out the Russians and Belarusians,' he said.
'I don't know how they came up with the Belarusians too but that's a whole other story. In my opinion, compounded by the fact that now the ATP and the WTA say there are now no points, I don't see how that helps the players.
John McEnroe and Tim Henman were involved in an awkward TV debate about Wimbledon's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from their tournament
American tennis icon McEnroe said they made 'a mistake' and suggested players could end up boycotting the summer tournament
Wimbledon have been stripped of their rankings points by the WTA and ATP after the move
'If the players really believe that Wimbledon had made a big mistake by not allowing the Russian and Belarusian players to play, in my opinion, they should have boycotted the tournament.'
He then added: 'By the way Mr Henman, we could share players' profits. How about 50/50 with the All-England club now we're on the subject of that?'
Henman chuckled and said there were 'no winners' from Wimbledon's decision and admitted he felt sympathy for Russian and Belarusian players, but said it was unrealistic to expect officials to go against the Government given their strict stance on Russia.
After McEnroe said he was 'going after Henman', the former British No 1 said it was unrealistic to not expect Wimbledon to stand by the Government
Henman admitted it was a 'lose-lose situation for everybody' but stressed he had sympathy for Russian and Belarusian players for being victims of the UK's sanctions on Russia
'The reality of the situation is there are no winners and I feel enormous sympathy for the Russian and Belarusian players that cannot play,' he said in response.
'When you go through the circumstances presented to Wimbledon, the directive from the government is players are not allowed to play as neutral athletes, like on the tour at the moment.
'So the question in return is are Wimbledon expected to turn around, given their status in the UK, and say to the government actually we think we know better so will do something different?
'Wimbledon are not going to jeopardise the safety of their players or
