MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Lyudmila Samsonova defeated Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic on Friday, advancing to the semifinals round of the 2024 WTA (the Women Tennis Association) Abu Dhabi tennis tournament.

The eighth-seed Samsonova, who is playing at the tournament under a neutral status, defeated her Czech opponent, seeded 4th, with a straight sets win of 7-5; 6-4 and she is now set to play in the semifinal against the tournament’s top-seed, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

In her quarterfinal match against Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, Rybakina stormed past her Spanish opponent in straight sets 6-1; 6-4.

According to the WTA official website, "Rybakina will face a stern test against Samsonova… Samsonova is 4-0 against Rybakina at pro level, all on outdoor hard courts, including wins in the Montreal and Beijing semifinals last year."

"The only time Rybakina was victorious over Samsonova at any level was in their only junior meeting in 2016, winning 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) on clay…," the WTA’s website added.

Russia’s 25-year-old Samsonova is currently ranked 15th in the Women’s Tennis Association Rankings and has four WTA titles under her belt. Playing on the Grand Slam circuit, she has never made it past the quarterfinals. In 2021, she won the Billie Jean King Cup as part of the Russian national team.

The 2024 Abu Dhabi tournament is a WTA 500 professional tennis event, which is played on outdoor hard courts at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre in Abu Dhabi between February 5 and 11 and has over $922,570 in prize money up for grabs.

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 canceling 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.