NEW YORK, August 27. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Erika Andreeva cleared on Tuesday the opening round of the 2024 US Open, the year’s final Grand Slam event.

The 20-year-old Russian, who is playing under a neutral status at the tournament, defeated China’s Yue Yuan in straight sets 6-3; 7-6 (9-7). In the next round, she will play against another Chinese player, 7th-seeded Qinwen Zheng.

Earlier in the day, Russia’s Yekaterina Alexandrova also cleared the opening round of the tournament in New York, defeating Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-7 (4-7); 6-0; 7-5. In Round 2, she will play against Iva Jovic of the United States.

Two more Russian women - Veronika Kudermetova and Anna Blinkova - failed to reach Round 2.

Andreeva is ranked 75th in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Rankings. She has never won a title on the WTA tour, and on the Grand Slam circuit, her best finish was earlier this year, when she reached Round 2 of Wimbledon.

Alexandrova, 29, is currently ranked 31st in the WTA Rankings and has four career WTA tournament titles under her belt. Her best career finish in Grand Slams was in 2023, when she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon. She is also the winner of the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup.

The 2024 US Open is being held on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York between August 26 and September 8. The tournament has $75 million in prize money up for grabs. Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff of the United States are the tournament's defending 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 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.