Nervous wait for Daniil Medvedev amid looming Wimbledon move

Tennis world No.2 Daniil Medvedev's hopes of competing at Wimbledon appear to be fading as English tennis officials move closer to an outright ban of Russian players at the event.

Medvedev, who briefly held the top spot in the rankings this year before Novak Djokovic resumed his place, has opted to undergo surgery to fix a small hernia.

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This means the 26-year-old Russian will likely miss the French Open and the rest of the clay court swing, before a potential return for Wimbledon.

The UK government has already been leaning towards a hard-line stance against Russian athletes competing in the country - which could rule Medvedev out regardless of his recovery.

Though the ATP and WTA have allowed Russian players to continue on tour under a neutral flag, Medvedev and the likes of Arya Sabalenka could face an outright ban from the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club itself.

The ATP and WTA tours have allowed Russian players to continue, having held some concerns a potential ban would leave them liable to legal claims of discrimination.

The fact that the All-England club is a private venture separate from the WTA and ATP afford it more protection, accoring to a source for The Telegraph.

“Private member clubs have more freedom as to who to allow in or not, so they wouldn’t be subject to the same discrimination laws as the tours," the source told reporter Simon Briggs.

“If you are running the main tennis tour, you have the freedom to ban players, but you have to be able to show this course of action is reasonable.

"Russian players could argue that they are being prevented from making a living through no fault of their own.

“That is not so much of an issue for Wimbledon, however.”

Back in March, the subject of Russian players competing on British soil was raised in the UK parliament, with Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston declaring no athlete would fly the Russian flag.

“Absolutely nobody flying the flag for Russia should be allowed or enabled," Huddleston said, also suggesting players should have to sign a document confirming they were not being paid by Russian president Vladimir Putin, Russia, or Belarus, as well as banning them from speaking in support of those countries.

Surgery may rule Medvedev out of Wimbledon despite ban talk

His brief hold on the world No.1 spot was the highlight of a whirlwind few months for Medevev.

The world No.2 wrote on Twitter on Saturday that he has been dealing with "a small hernia" in recent months which will require surgery.

"Together with my team I have decided to have a small procedure done to fix the problem," the post said.

"I will likely be out for the next 1-2 months and will work hard to be back on court soon."

That timeline suggests Medvedev likely will miss the next grand slam at Roland Garros, which begins on May 22.

He reached the quarter-finals in Paris last year after losing in the first round in each of his first four appearances there.

Medvedev beat Djokovic in the US Open final last September, then lost to Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open in January.

At his most recent two tournaments, Medvedev went out in his second match at Indian Wells, California, and then exited in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open on Thursday.

The 26-year-old briefly reached No.1 in the ATP rankings for the first time in February, before Djokovic regained the top spot despite not being able to play due to his vaccination status.

Medvedev remarked that he had struggled mightily during his loss to Hubert Hurkacz last week at the Miami Open, commenting that he cramped sop badly he was 'like a fish on a sofa'.

Medvedev needed to reach the semi-finals in Miami to reclaim the No.1 ranking, but fell one victory short.

With agencies

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