HONG KONG, November 1. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Diana Shnaider reached the semifinals round of the 2024 Hong Kong Open tennis tournament after defeating Suzan Lamens from the Netherlands on Friday.

The Russian, who is playing at the tournament under a neutral status, needed three sets to dispatch her Dutch opponent 6-0; 6-7 (4-7); 6-2. Shnaider, the tournament’s top-seed, will now face defending champion Leylah Fernandez from Canada in the semifinals.

The WTA official website quoted Shnaider as saying about her upcoming encounter with Fernandez: "Of course, it will come into my mind that I've lost to her twice. Leylah has the experience in matches like this."

"She's an unusual player, playing very close to the baseline and cutting your time," the Russian tennis player said. "She's moving like crazy, she's stepping in, playing very aggressive, coming into the net. It's going to be very tough, she knows it's going to be tough."

"It's a semifinal, we both want to win, I just need to keep my energy positive to show my best," the Russian added.

Fernandez, who earlier won in straight sets over 9th-seeded Bernarda Pera from the United States (6-1; 7-6), said "it's going to be one hell of a battle" against Shnaider.

"Diana is an incredibly powerful player, is having an incredible year, I know she is going to come in fighting," the 22-year-old Canadian player continued. "It’s her whole game, how she is able to transition from defense to offense. How she keeps in the offense is very impressive. At the moment she is playing with no fear."

"I'm going to try and execute my game plan and hope for the best," Fernandez added.

Shnaider is 20 years old, and is currently ranked 14th in the WTA Rankings. Shnaider has three WTA titles to her name, winning all of them during the current season. Earlier in the year, she made it to Round 3 of the prestigious Wimbledon tournament. Playing at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, she won a silver medal in women’s doubles with partner Mirra Andreeva.

The 2024 Hong Kong Open is a WTA-250 event and is an annual hard-court tournament played at the Victoria Park Tennis Centre in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. This year it runs between October 28 and November 3.

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 on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

However, the Women 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.