World's No. 1 men's singles tennis player Novak Djokovic said he understands the decision by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) to strip the Wimbledon Championships of the ranking points for the tournament.

The All England Club, the organizer of the Wimbledon Championships, announced in April to ban Russian and Belarusian players from the tournament because of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The ban was under a lot of criticism from the ATP, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and many players including Djokovic. In response, the two tennis governing bodies last week decided not to award the Wimbledon Championships ranking points. That move can be a huge blow to the tournament because players, especially the top ones, won't be able to lift or maintain their world rankings by participating in the Grand Slam event.

Djokovic is not immune from the impact. "On a personal level, of course, without getting a chance to play and defend my 4,000 points I'm going to drop in this year [at] Australia and Wimbledon. So, of course, on a personal, individual level, I have been very negatively affected by that," the Serbian super star said. He has won six Wimbledon titles in his career.

"But I have been speaking with management and the president of [the] ATP and some of the council members actually in the last few days," Djokovic added. "I think collectively I'm glad that players got together with ATP, the governing body of the men's tennis, and showed to the Grand Slam that, you know, when there is a mistake happening, and there was from the Wimbledon side, then we have to show that there is going to be some consequences."

Having called the latest development a "lose-lose situation for everyone," Djokovic said he will still play at the Wimbledon this year. "There are some guys that obviously, you know, not going to have a chance to earn points," he said. "Of course it's a very unique and weird situation, I must say. Of course, [a] Grand Slam is still [a] Grand Slam. Wimbledon for me was always my dream tournament when I was a child. You know, I don't look at it through the lens of points or prize money. For me, it's something else."

Djokovic can still defend his world's No. 1 ranking if he wins the title at the ongoing French Open, which he did twice in 2016 and 2021. The Serbian star swept Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round on Monday. His opponent in the second round will be the winner between Federico Coria of Argentina and Alex Molcan of Slovakia.