Russian and Belarusian players will not be allowed to compete at Wimbledon this year because of the invasion of Ukraine.

The BBC reports that men’s world number two Daniil Medvedev of Russia and women’s world number four Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus are the highest-ranked players to be affected.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) said it had a responsibility to “limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible”.

Wimbledon runs from 27 June to 10 July.

In a statement AELTC said in the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players and it is, therefore, their intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to Wimbledon.”

Sabalenka reached the semi-finals of last year’s tournament, while Medvedev, who has been announced as one of the star draws at the grass-court warm-up event in the Netherlands today, reached the fourth round.