Russian and Belarusian tennis players will be banned from competing in Wimbledon because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Belarus' support of the ongoing war, the All England Club announced on Wednesday. The ban will make Wimbledon the first tennis event to bar individual athletes from competing. Wimbledon is scheduled to start June 27. “We recognize that this is hard on the individuals affected, and it is with sadness that they will suffer for the actions of the leaders of the Russian regime,” said Ian Hewitt, Chairman of the All England Club. The decision impacts many highly-ranked players, including No. 2 Daniil Medvedev (Russia) and No. 8 Andrey Rublev (Russia) in the men's field and No. 15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) in the women's field. No. 4 Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) and No. 18 Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) would also be among those excluded in the women's field. When the war began, team events such as the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup banned the Russian and Belarusian tennis federations, but players from these countries could compete individually without national identification. The French Open begins May 22 and it will allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete as neutral athletes. Read more at the link in our bio. / 📸: Matthew Stockman, Getty Images