Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev will continue competing under neutral status, as confirmed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The ITF maintains its stance on the suspension of Belarus and Russia, unaffected by the recent policy change by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Despite the IOC’s announcement allowing Belarusian athletes to compete under their national identity without neutral-status vetting, the ITF asserts that tennis’s restrictions for Belarus and Russia remain in place.
The ITF emphasized that the IOC’s decision does not alter the existing suspensions of the Belarus and Russian Tennis Federations. The issue will undergo a review later this year, with the Belarus Tennis Federation’s membership status up for consideration at the ITF Annual General Meeting in October. Since the conflict’s onset, players from Belarus and Russia have participated in tournaments without national flags or country names, facing exclusion from major team competitions like the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup.
Both Aryna Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam champion from Belarus, and Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion from Russia currently ranked world No. 9, have excelled as neutral athletes in their respective tours. The IOC recently lifted the ban on Belarusian athletes competing under their flag and country’s name in events organized by International Sports Federations (IFs), following similar actions by other sports bodies like the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the International Judo Federation, and the International Swimming Federation (FINA).
