sport news Andy Murray hits out at tennis stars threatening to skip next month's Wimbledon ... trends now
Andy Murray has taken to social media to dispute claims that this year's Wimbledon showpiece will be an 'exhibition' after officials decided to strip the tournament of ranking points.
The ATP and WTA Tours – who also represent the players – have said that Wimbledon will not contribute towards the official rankings due to their decision to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing.
As a result, a host of players have threatened to withdraw from the prestigious Grand Slam tournament - with four-time Major champion Naomi Osaka admitting she was considering pulling out due to the lack of points on offer.
Andy Murray has disputed claims that this year's Wimbledon showpiece will be an 'exhibition'
Former world No 1 Osaka hinted on Monday she may skip the third Grand Slam of the season while GB star Cameron Norrie conceded the Championships had been reduced to 'almost an exhibition'.
However, Murray has taken to social media to dispute such claims and emphasis the importance of winning trophies over gaining points.
The 35-year-old star took to Twitter to say: 'I follow golf very closely and have no idea how many ranking points the winner of the Masters gets.
'Me and my friends love football and non of us know or care how many ranking points a team gets for winning the World Cup.
'But I could tell you exactly who won the World Cup and the Masters. I'd hazard a guess that most people watching on centre court at Wimbledon in a few weeks time wouldn't know or care about how many ranking points a player gets for winning a 3rd round match.
'But I guarantee they will remember who wins. Wimbledon will never be an exhibition and will never feel like an exhibition. The end.'
Murray's comments came after Osaka hinted she may skip the tournament for the second year running. She said: 'I would say like the decision [to strip Wimbledon of ranking points] is affecting my mentality going into grass. I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to go there.
'I would love to go just to get some experience on the grass court, but like at the same time, for me, I don't want to say pointless - no pun intended -, but I'm the type of player that gets motivated by seeing my ranking go up or stuff like that.
Naomi Osaka is 'leaning towards' skipping Wimbledon after officials stripped the tournament of ranking points due to their decision to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing
‘I feel like if I play Wimbledon without points, it’s more like an exhibition. I know this isn’t true, but my brain just feels that way. When I think something is like an exhibition, I just can’t go at it 100 per cent.'
John Isner, a men’s semi-finalist in 2018, has expressed similar concerns to Osaka. He expects a strong field of
