British No 1 Cameron Norrie said he wants to see the best players in the world competing at Wimbledon next year after the Grand Slam tournament banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2022 event.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club made the decision to ban players from those countries as a response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It proved a contentious decision, with the ATP and WTA opting to strip ranking points from this year's tournament.
Among the leading male players to be affected by the ban were Russian pair Daniil Medvedev - at the time of the tournament, the world No 1 - and compatriot Andrey Rublev, the world No 8.
Reports emerged last week that Wimbledon could reverse the ban after being hit by fines from the ATP and WTA, and while Norrie refused to be drawn into the saga, Britain's top-ranked player said he had some personal sympathy for Medvedev and Rublev.
"It's tough to know what the thought process is from any side - from the ITF, from Wimbledon, from the ATP - I'm not really sure at the moment," Norrie, 27, said.
"For me, I want the best players in the world to be playing. This year, it was tough for those guys, especially for Daniil and Andrey, who had a real chance of winning Wimbledon, and I know how much those guys sacrifice for their careers. Their goals are obviously high and to be winning Slams.
"I don't really know what's going to happen moving forward, and for me, I'm just going to focus on my own stuff. This year I had a great run there and hopefully can do it again but next time earn some ranking points."
Norrie was speaking after competing at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, where he defeated Croatia's Borna Coric in the fifth-place playoff on Saturday.
The world No 14's participation in the capital continued his Middle Eastern pre-season having competed at the Diriyah Cup in Saudi Arabia last week, and after some time off during the off-season, the focus is trying to get some matches in the legs ahead of the Australian Open next month.
"I came here to play the best players and I did that," Norrie said. "Most of the time during pre-season you're playing in practice courts so it's a good chance to play a proper match against the top guys in a stadium court and have that match environment.
"I think I'm playing quite well. I took a couple of weeks to reset, didn't really leave my couch. I'd been travelling the whole year so it was really nice. I started strong in Saudi last week and I've just been building and building. For my game I need to pride myself on being physical so getting these training weeks in is a big part of my preparation."
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
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