"If it's a war between ATP and Wimbledon, it's not nice for us, because we want to play normally" - Benoit Paire
Benoit Paire, who lost his first-round match at Roland Garros, spoke about the ATP's decision to strip ranking points from Wimbledon in his post-match press conference.
Caught in the crossfire between the ATP and the organisers of Wimbledon, several players, including Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, have spoken about the series of decisions.
BREAKING:
ATP removes ranking points from #Wimbledon this year because of their ban of Russian and Belarusian players. https://t.co/7WLmIt2jWM
When asked what happened in the fourth set of his match against Ilya Ivashka of Belarus, the 33-year-old veered off course and spoke about Wimbledon instead.
The Frenchman stated that players were not consulted ahead of the ATP's decision to remove ranking points from Wimbledon. He added that players wanted to "play normally" and not be caught in altercations between the two governing bodies.
"I would like to talk about Wimbledon. I would like to know if ATP defends more players or Russia. But the question is, why didn't they talk with players? Yes, when they say there was a council which voted, nobody told us about this. If it's a war between ATP and Wimbledon, it's not nice for us, because we want to play normally," Paire said.
"This is why I wanted to talk with you guys. Because we are going to play a tournament without any points. When some people had COVID, we didn't say, Oh, okay, we should cancel the tournament altogether," he added.
Benoit Paire stressed that most players did not understand the ATP's decision and wanted to have points for Wimbledon.
"But then we have three or four Russian players, including Medvedev, and we are rallying against Wimbledon. I think it's a pity, because if we were to listen to all the players, players do not understand this decision. 99% of players, they want to have points and to play the tournament as it was before. So I want to know if ATP wants to defend players or Russia," the Frenchman said.
While the ATP stripped ranking points from Wimbledon, last year's points for the tournament are still scheduled to drop. This leaves players in a lurch as they'll be unable to win points and defend their position in the rankings.
"Medvedev will be No. 1 worldwide, this is absurd" - Benoit Paire
Drawing attention to the possibility that Daniil Medvedev could become World No. 1 with the removal of ranking points for Wimbledon, the Frenchman said the ATP's position on the matter was not in favour of the players.
"Medvedev will be No. 1 worldwide. This is absurd. We should actually take position for all the players in the world, and it's the opposite that is being done right now," Paire said.
With Novak Djokovic set to drop 2000 points and Medvedev only losing 180 points from Wimbledon last year, the Russian is almost guaranteed to be the World No. 1.
Statement regarding ATP / WTA / ITF ranking points at The Championships 2022.
Stating that he felt sorry for the Russian players who would not be able to take part in Wimbledon, Benoit Paire also added that "they are the ones causing all the trouble."
"I'm sorry for Russia and Russians, but they are the ones causing all the trouble. And all the ATP players are actually paying the price," he concluded.