Hosts France are among 34 countries to have asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are also among those to have called for a ban to be imposed.
A joint-statement released on Monday detailed reasoning based around "Russia's unprovoked and unjustifiable war of choice [against Ukraine], facilitated by the Belarusian government."
Russia's sports minister, Oleg Matytsin, said earlier this month that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for governments to attempt to influence the IOC.
The IOC confirmed last month it intended to uphold sanctions against Russian and Belarusian state and government officials ahead of next year's Games in the French capital, but added it would explore opportunities for athletes from both nations to compete under a neutral flag.
Monday's statement from the 34 countries addressed that plan, welcoming "the IOC’s reaffirmation and reinforcement of their existing sanctions in place" while suggesting their neutrality comments raised "many questions and concerns".
"While recognising the autonomy of sports bodies, given the invasion of Ukraine and its devastation is ongoing, we agreed that the IOC's proposal on exploring a pathway back to competition for individual Russian and Belarusian athletes raises many questions and concerns," the statement read.
The signatories also referenced a lack of "clarity" around the neutrality model as a key reason why athletes from the two countries should not be present in Paris.
"We have strong concerns on how feasible it is for Russian and Belarusian Olympic athletes to compete as 'neutrals' – under the IOC's conditions of no identification with their country – when they are directly funded and supported by their states," the statement continued.
"The strong links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military are also of clear concern. Our collective approach throughout has therefore never been one of discrimination simply on the basis of nationality, but these strong concerns need to be dealt with by the IOC.
"As long as these fundamental issues and the substantial lack of clarity and concrete detail on a workable 'neutrality' model are not addressed, we do not agree that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed back into competition."
The statement finished by outlining the position would be altered should the war in Ukraine be ended, saying: "We also note that Russia and Belarus have it in their own hands to pave the way for their athletes' full return to the international sports community, namely by ending the war they started."
I’d love to be British number one – Jodie Burrage
Jodie Burrage has the British number one ranking and a top-100 place in her sights as she looks to write a positive narrative this grass-court season.
Bone stress in her arm forced the 24-year-old to miss her chance to qualify last month for the French Open, where no British women were in the main draw for the first time since 2008.
It was particularly frustrating for Burrage because she had just reached her career-high ranking of 106 after winning a second-tier tournament in France and was only a win or two away from overtaking Emma Raducanu to become the country’s leading woman.
View this post on Instagram“Obviously missing the French was a really tough call for me,” Burrage told the PA news agency. “I’m not good with missing tournaments anyway but it was kind of a conversation of, ‘you either play French and then miss grass or you miss the French and then play grass’.
“There’s quite a few things that I missed out on and could-have-beens but that’s just what tennis is, ups and downs. Hopefully I’ll get there at some point, and I believe that I can get there, I’ll just have to wait a little bit longer.”
Burrage and the rest of the leading British women are beginning their grass-court campaigns this week at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy, and there is a good chance that by the end of the week one of them will have passed Raducanu.
Burrage and Katie Boulter are best placed but Harriet Dart and Katie Swan are also in contention, with the quartet all looking to push on into the top 100.
Burrage is optimistic the domestic picture will look healthier come the end of Wimbledon, saying of the French Open wipe-out: “It is a bit of a timing thing. There are obviously quite a few of us that are 110-140 so I’m sure in the grass-court season some of those girls are going to push through.
“It is obviously disappointing from a British outlook but I can’t really focus on the whole of British tennis. I’m at my career-high ranking and have had some really good wins and a really good season.”
Burrage admits she follows the ranking permutations – “I just want to know where I could be if I get wins, it motivates me” – but she is thinking wider than simply British number one.
“It’s definitely a big goal to be British number one,” she said. “Obviously rankings and stuff is done throughout the world so I guess I kind of focus more on your actual ranking.
“I would love to be able to say I got to British number one but, one, I’m not there yet, two, it could not happen, so overall I’m just looking at boosting my ranking up to get me in grand slam main draws and that’s my real focus.”
Another major target is to force her way into Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup team for their play-off against Sweden in November.
Burrage was upset to miss out on selection for last year’s finals and then the qualifier against France in April, when she was the highest-ranked player available.
“It’s something that I would really love to do, to play a match for Great Britain,” she said. “I was disappointed not to be in the team but I can’t really do much about that now. My job now is to make sure I’m in the squad for next time. Hopefully I can do it because it’s one of my biggest goals.”
View this post on InstagramBurrage talked things through with captain Anne Keothavong, and added: “If I take care of things week in, week out then I kind of take the question out of her hands a little bit so that’s what I’m trying to do.
“I spoke to Anne at length about it all. She’s got good comms. Hopefully for next time I can make it an easier decision for her.”
Burrage used the opportunities given to her on grass last year to push up the rankings, reaching the semi-finals in Surbiton and the final in Ilkley before beating then world number four Paula Badosa in Eastbourne.
She suffered a second first-round loss at Wimbledon, though, and bettering that is the first aim.
“I’m just looking forward to playing,” she said. “I’m still yet to win a match there so that’s my first goal, but I can’t wait. The ultimate goal is Wimbledon but we’ve still got five weeks before that so there’s a lot of work to be done first.”
French Open day 10: Djokovic and Alcaraz through as Sabalenka wins grudge match
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will face each other in a blockbuster French Open semi-final on Friday.
Djokovic had to battle from a set down to defeat Russian Karen Khachanov while Alcaraz produced a show under the lights in a 6-2 6-1 7-6 (5) victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Aryna Sabalenka continued her unbeaten grand slam run by beating Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-4 to set up a last-four clash with Karolina Muchova.
Picture of the dayTweet of the dayQuote of the dayShot of the dayStat of the dayInsulin rowAlexander Zverev revealed last year that he was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of three. The German is unhappy that he has not been allowed to inject himself with insulin on court in Paris, telling German reporters: “They said it looks weird when I do this on court. But this is not a clever take because, if I don’t do it, my life will be in danger.”
Fallen seedsMen: Karen Khachanov (11)
Women: None
Who’s up next?Defending champion Iga Swiatek takes on Coco Gauff in a repeat of last year’s final as the quarter-finals continue in Paris.
The winner of the clash will take on either seventh seed Ons Jabeur or Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia in the last four.
In the men’s draw, there is also a rematch, with Casper Ruud and Holger Rune doing battle again after their fiery encounter 12 months ago, while Alexander Zverev meets surprise package Tomas Etcheverry.
Carlos Alcaraz demolishes Stefanos Tsitsipas to set up Novak Djokovic semi-final
Carlos Alcaraz demolished Stefanos Tsitsipas to set up a mouth-watering French Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic on Friday.
The prospective clash was immediately highlighted when the draw was made 12 days ago and had appeared inevitable as both men progressed through the rounds.
Both have dropped only one set but, while Djokovic had to fight back from a set down to beat Karen Khachanov on Tuesday, Alcaraz swatted aside fifth seed Tsitsipas 6-2 6-1 7-6 (5) in the night session.
The world number one said: “Believing in myself all the time, I’d say that’s the most important thing. I always feel I’m going to play this kind of matches at this level.
“I lost my focus a little bit at the end of the third set, I had a couple of match points. He started to play I would say better. I was in trouble but I’m really happy to overcome that problem, still playing a great level, believing that I was going to win the third set.”
Alcaraz and Djokovic have played only once before, with the Spaniard winning in Madrid last year, and he said: “This match everyone wants to watch. I would say it’s going to be a really good match to play and to watch. I really wanted to play this match. If you want to be the best you have to beat the best.”
On paper this appeared the toughest test for Alcaraz so far but he had won all four previous meetings against Tsitsipas, including in Barcelona in April, and was in total control from the start.
He was better in every aspect and Tsitsipas, who had won all six of his previous slam quarter-finals, simply had no answer to Alcaraz’s all-round wizardry, with winners flying past him and drop shots catching him out time and again.
The Greek did not play badly in the opening set but still had his serve broken twice and he appeared to grow increasingly demoralised in the second, where he won only 13 points.
The crowd were torn between admiring the flamboyant brilliance of Alcaraz and wanting a contest, and they responded to Tsitsipas’ call for encouragement when he finally won a game at 0-3 in the third set.
Alcaraz threatened to be held up more by a Mexican wave than his opponent but Tsitsipas did at least provide a late challenge, saving two match points at 2-5 and then breaking the 20-year-old for the first time when he served for victory.
A third match point came and went as Tsitsipas forced a tie-break, where he saved a fourth and fifth, but on his sixth chance Alcaraz converted.
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