SYDNEY, January 18. /TASS/. Russia’s Anna Blinkova has cleared Round 2 of the 2024 Australian Open tennis tournament after defeating Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina on Thursday.

The Russian, who is playing at the tournament under a neutral status, eked out a victory over her 3rd-seeded opponent, needing a third set tiebreak to take her down 6-4; 4-6; 7-6 (22-20).

"It took me a lot of courage," the tournament’s official website quoted Blinkova as saying after the match. "I was going for it, I was trying to find the balance between being aggressive and being solid, not rushing, but trying to make her play one more shot."

"I was telling myself … to go more for it, to hit harder, to make her move more," she continued. "I was doing a lot of mental work, a lot of self-talk to just stay positive, and telling myself that I still can win the match until the very end."

"This day I will remember for the rest of my life, especially on this court, with this crowd, I will never forget it," the Russian tennis player said.

"It’s the best day of my life so far," she added.

Blinkova will now prepare to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the next round.

Blinkova, 25, is currently ranked 57th in the WTA Rankings, and has one career WTA tournament title. She has played in numerous Grand Slam tournaments, but has never made it past the 3rd round.

The 2024 Australian Open tournament is being played on hard courts at Melbourne Park on January 14-28 and has a purse of $57.8 mln in prize money up for grabs. The opening tournament of the annual Grand Slam series in Australia marks its 112th edition this year. Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka are the reigning Australian Open champions in men’s and women’s singles, respectively.

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also cancelling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

However, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.