Belarusian Victoria Azarenka expressed her delight at the Wimbledon crowd’s support on Monday after missing out on the Grand Slam the previous year as a result of the ban on players from Russia and Belarus.
The ATP and WTA Tours stripped the competition of ranking points as a result of the ban, which Moscow claims was caused by Russia’s “special military operation” invasion of Ukraine.
Players from the two countries are participating in their return as neutrals and are not permitted to receive state money or corporate sponsorship from either Russia or Belarus.