Andy Murray perfectly sums up what unranked Wimbledon means to the average tennis fan as they wade into the line

ANDY MURRAY says Wimbledon will never be an ‘exhibition’ in his eyes – and the British public couldn’t care less about ranking points.

The unprecedented decision by the ATP, WTA and ITF to strip Wimbledon of its ranking points has overshadowed the action taking place at this week’s French Open in Paris.

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This is in response to Wimbledon banning Russian and Belarusian players from their tournament after invading Ukraine.

It’s a decision that has divided the Roland Garros dressing room and angered the majority of the player base, who feel they weren’t consulted before it was announced.

Some top players – like Naomi Osaka and Benoit Paire – have disrespectfully dubbed the SW19 tournament an ‘exhibition’ as the rankings are no longer on the table.

But world No. 67 Murray, who won the singles crown in 2013 and 2016, has issued a strong defense of beleaguered tennis bosses.

The Scot, 35, reached the third round last year – he was beaten by Canada’s Denis Shapovalov – and would be affected by the loss of points himself.

In a series of three tweetsMurray said: “I follow golf very closely and have no idea how many ranking points the winner of The Masters gets.

“Me and my friends love football and none of us know or care how many ranking points a team gets for winning the Fifa World Cup.

“But I could tell you exactly who won the World Cup and the Masters.

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“I would suspect that most people watching on Center Court at Wimbledon in a few weeks would not know or be interested in how many ranking points a player gets for winning a match in the third round.

“But I guarantee they will remember who wins.

“Wimbledon will never be an exhibition and will never feel like an exhibition. The end.”