PARIS, June 6. /TASS/. Russia’s Mirra Andreeva failed to clear the semifinals round of the 2024 French Open tennis tournament losing in straight sets on Thursday to her Italian opponent Jasmine Paolini.
In their match earlier in the day, which lasted for only one hour and 13 minutes, Italy’s 12th-seed Paolini breezed past unseeded Andreeva with the final score of 6-3; 6-1.
"I'm super happy. It was a tough match. She's playing unbelievable, she's only 17-years-old, she's so complete. I was a little bit nervous before the match," the tournament’s official website quoted the 28-year-old Italian player as saying.
"I lost to her a couple of months ago and I told myself I had to play better. Ball after ball I was getting more relaxed. It's tough to stay relaxed at this stage," Paolini added after the match.
Andreeva, who plays at the international tournaments under a neutral status, became the youngest tennis player since 1997 to reach the semifinals of the Grand Slam competitions after she had defeated Arina Sobolenko at the courts of Roland Garros earlier this week.
The Russian player previously reached the 4th round of the 2023 Wimbledon and the 4th Round of the 2024 Australian Open.
Italian tennis star Paolini has two WTA titles under her belt and she is currently ranked 15th in the WTA World Ranking. This is her first appearance in the final of the Grand Slam series tournaments.
One of tennis’ four Grand Slam events, the 2024 French Open is taking place in Paris, nicknamed the "City of Light," between May 26 and June 9. The tournament is played on outdoor clay courts and offers a purse of 53.478 million euros (almost $57.900 million) in prize money.
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.