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World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka continued her impressive run of form this year by advancing to the semifinals of Wimbledon 2025. She survived a massive scare from Laura Siegemund in the quarterfinals, staging a fightback to score a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win. She's now vying to reach her fourth consecutive Major final, a feat only accomplished by Serena Williams in the past 15 years.
Eagled-eyed viewers may have noticed a small discrepancy regarding Sabalenka at Wimbledon. The 27-year-old, who's a native of Belarus, doesn't have her country's flag featured next to her name, unlike most other players. The reason for this is Russia's ongoing conflict with Ukraine, which initially commenced in 2022.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) immediately issued a ruling in light of Russia's transgressions. Athletes from Russia will only be allowed to compete if they opt to play without displaying their country's flag. Athletes from Belarus were also subject to the same since the country supported Russia's actions.
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"Players from Russia and Belarus will continue to be allowed to compete in international tennis events as individuals. However, they will not compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus until further notice," read the ITF's statement.
The ITF's decree also bars the two countries from competing in international team events, namely the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup. Their players were allowed to compete at the Paris Olympics 2024, albeit under the banner of a neutral flag and not of their respective countries.
Thus, Sabalenka has continued to play for nearly three years without having the Belarusian flag next to her name. The Russia-Ukraine conflict also led to her exclusion from Wimbledon three years ago.
Wimbledon refused to allow Aryna Sabalenka and other Russian, Belarusian athletes to compete in 2022
The ITF's ruling in 2022 allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to continue playing as long as they distanced themselves from their country's flag. However, the Wimbledon organizers went a step further and completely barred players from the two countries from competing that year. Aryna Sabalenka was thus forced to skip the grass-court Major, along with other affected players.
The ATP and WTA weren't kept in the loop about the same, and thus didn't allot any ranking points for the 2022 edition of the tournament. The ban remained in effect for a year, with Russian and Belarusian players being allowed to compete once again from 2023.
Sabalenka advanced to her first semifinal at Wimbledon in 2021, going down to eventual runner-up Karolina Pliskova in three sets. After being ineligible to compete in 2022, she returned a year later and once again lost in the semifinals, this time to Ons Jabeur. She couldn't compete last year due to an injury, and now finds herself in the semifinals once again. She will take on Amanda Anisimova for a spot in the final on Thursday, July 10.
