Wimbledon Championships 2022 Denies Entry to a 17-Year-Old Tennis Prodigy

Before the tournament even started, there were many controversies surrounding the Wimbledon Championships this year. The decision to ban all Russian and Belarusian tennis players generated the most reactions, both positive and negative. As a result, both the ATP and WTA took away points from the event causing a few players to lose motivation to play the prestigious event.?

As the tournament is taking place, another issue has emerged regarding a young Iranian player, Meshkatolzahra Safi.

Iranian player Meshkatolzahra Safi misses Wimbledon Championships 2022 with visa issues?

According to various reports, Safi, a 17-year-old Iranian girl, missed a chance to play at Wimbledon this year after not getting a visa on time. Before the tournament, she obtained a license to participate in the junior tournament but had to withdraw at the last moment.?

According to the manager of Safi, the British government and Wimbledon did not cooperate with the visa. “Today is a sad day for sports in general and for Iran tennis,”?her manager wrote on Instagram.

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“Meshkat had to pull out of the tournament because the UK government did NOT give her a visit visa on time nor did the tournament organizers do anything to help. It is sad to think how politics effects so many people lives, their dreams, the careers and their ambitions,” her manager further wrote.

It is worth noting that Safi became the first Iranian girl to play at the Australian Open juniors earlier this summer.

During the tournament, she revealed that she was a huge fan of Rafael Nadal and started playing tennis after watching the Spaniard. After Melbourne, she took part in the junior event at the French Open as well. She was hoping to play three Grand Slam tournaments in a row at Wimbledon, which did not happen this year.

Currently, she is ranked no.76 in the ITF junior rankings and became the first Iranian girl to rank in the top 100. Earlier in March, she achieved her highest-ever ranking, i.e. 69. Apart from that, she has an overall 14-8 winning record in the junior circuit.?

Wimbledon is suffering from low attendance

According to recent statistics, the first day of the Wimbledon Championships saw the lowest attendance since 2007, with 36,600 people attending the live matches. The next three days also saw a low number of audiences as 114,573 people in came to SW19 in total, which was pretty less compared to 2019(last time when attendance was 100%).

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Many fans are blaming Wimbledon’s decision to ban the Russian players as one of the reasons. Also, the absence of the legendary Swiss player Roger Federer could be one of the reasons for such low attendance. Despite this low crowd, the organizers are feeling optimistic that the attendance will peak in the second week, especially during the semi-finals and finals.