Andrey Rublev: Daniil Medvedev was asked to participate in the Laver Cup, the British government hinted it probably won't work

Andrey Rublev has revealed that Daniil Medvedev was asked to compete at the 2022 Laver Cup but could not do so due to the intervention of the British government.

The fifth edition of the exhibition event took place at the O2 Arena in London. Both Medvedev and Rublev took part in the competition in 2021 but neither featured this year.

Rublev stated that he wasn't invited to take part in the 2022 Laver Cup but that Medvedev was. He added, however, that the British government "hinted" that Medvedev's participation wouldn't be possible.

“I don't. I know that Dana (Medvedev) - yes. But the British government is there, and they hinted that it probably won’t work," Rublev was quoted as saying by Championat.

The 24-year-old's comments come just months after the All England Club's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This led to the ATP and WTA stripping the grass-court Major of its ranking points.

Daniil Medvedev is currently competing at the Astana Open

Daniil Medvedev is the second seed at the Astana Open

Daniil Medvedev is currently competing at the Astana Open, where he is the second seed. The Russian booked his place in the second round of the ATP 500 tournament after beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 6-1.

Medvedev will next face either Sofia Open champion Marc-Andrea Huesler or Emil Ruusuvuori. If he makes the quarterfinals, he will square off against either Roberto Bautista Agut or Pavel Kotov.

With Novak Djokovic also competing in Astana, the two heavyweights could potentially face-off in the semifinals in what would be their first meeting this season.

The Russian lost the No. 1 ranking to Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open but said in a press conference that it didn't affect him much.

"To be honest, I didn't feel much when I lost the No. 1 spot,” said Medvedev. “The ranking is the consequence of your results and if we take the American summer, for example, I did not take enough points to stay No. 1, or even No. 2 or 3."

"Whereas Casper, Carlos, Rafa, [Nadal] of course, with the two Grand Slams he won at the start of the year, they took a lot more points," he continued. "So, it's just logical. I have no feelings about it, no reason to cry. I can only tell myself that I have to do better if I want to find this place in the future."