PARIS: American
Sloane Stephens backed the ATP & WTA Tours' who decided to strip the upcoming
Wimbledon tennis championships off ranking points. The 29-year-old, a member of the
player council
, said the call was in keeping with the principles that govern the Tour.
The
All England Lawn Tennis Club
banned Russian and Belarussian players from all grass court events in the UK, including Wimbledon.
"We worked really hard to try to make sure that everyone had a fair opportunity to play, at the end of the day that's not what happened," Stephens said. "We live in social media, people talking and tweeting all this stuff. I think the decision that was made was the best one for the Tour and for the players."
Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, said she felt for players like
Karolina Pliskova
, who will not be able to defend the big points they earned from The Championships last summer.
"It's really unfortunate, but when you look at the principles and what our Tour stands for, discrimination will never be tolerated. As long as that's in play, there are no points," she said, adding, "I think when you are backed into a corner that's all you can do."