The international governing bodies of tennis said in a joint statement Tuesday that Russian and Belarusian tennis players can no longer compete under their countries' names or flags.
The top-ranked men's player in the world, from Russia, waves to spectators after a loss.
The International Tennis Federation, Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and the four Grand Slam tournaments have released a statement stating that Russian and Belariusan players can still compete.
The Russian and Belarusian teams have been suspended from all international team competition by the International Tennis Federation.
The suspension of a joint tournament in Moscow was announced by the ATP and WTA.
All athletes from Russia and Belarus should be excluded from international sporting competition in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a recommendation by the IOC. The NHL will suspend all Russian business operations, but will allow Russian athletes to compete, as they represent NHL teams, not their country. Russia's national soccer team will not be allowed to compete, according to the Union of European Football Association. There are four Russians in the top 25, including top-ranked Daniil Medvedev. The WTA updated its website to remove flags from players, but the ATP hasn't done so.
Alexander Rublev, the sixth-ranked men's tennis player, wrote "No war please" on a television camera after his semifinal win. The two were among the first prominent Russians to call for peace.
Russian tennis players can play while the soccer team is barred.
Russia and Putin have become sports-world pariahs.
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