Roland Garros Paris French Open 2022 Day 5 27052022 Daniil Medvedev (—) wins second round match against Laslo Djere (SRB) Photo Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
Wimbledon’s Russian player ban will have statistical repercussions for tennis, with world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev set to be missing from the field.
To make matters worse, second-ranked Alexander Zverev will also be a no-show as the German who rolled his right ankle in a French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal recovers after surgery this week.
The high-profile absences will mark the first time since Roland Garros 1999 that the top two have failed to front up for a Grand Slam.
The lack of the elite players appears to have been more frequent in the pre-1980 period, with the French Open going without in No. 1 and No. 2 in 1974, 1975, 1977.
The Australian Open was a Grand Slam orphan until its re-invention in the late 1980s, with paltry top fields throughout the entirety of 1976-1982 when often the entire ranking Top 5 were not entered.
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