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Russia’s Samsonova through to semis of 2025 WTA Adelaide International

Lyudmila Samsonova is now set to face off against the winner of the quarterfinals match between Russia’s Daria Kasatkina and Madison Keys of the United States

SYDNEY, January 9. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Lyudmila Samsonova defeated Emma Navarro of the United States on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the 2025 WTA (the Women’s Tennis Association) Adelaide International tennis tournament in Australia.

The unseeded Russian, who is playing as a neutral at the tournament, cruised past her 2nd-seeded US opponent in the quarterfinals match in straight sets, 6-4; 6-4.

She is now set to face off in the semifinals against Madison Keys of the United States, who beat Russia’s Daria Kasatkina (3rd-seed) 6-1; 6-3 later in the day in another quarterfinals match.

Samsonova, 26, is currently ranked 26th in the Women’s Tennis Association Rankings and has five career WTA titles. Playing on the Grand Slam circuit, she has made it as far as Round 4 (2021 Wimbledon and 2022, 2024 US Open). In 2021, she won the Billie Jean King Cup as part of the Russian national team.

In the other semifinals encounter of the 2025 Adelaide International tournament, top-seed Jessica Pegula from the United States will play against the winner of the quarterfinals match between Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva and 6th-seeded Russian Diana Shnaider.

The Adelaide International is a WTA 500 tennis tournament, which first took place in 2020. It is played on outdoor hard courts. This year, the tournament runs between January 6 and 11 and offers a purse of over $1.06 million in prize money. Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko is the tournament’s reigning champion, but she was knocked out of this year’s tournament in Round 2 by Madison Keys.

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.

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Ukrainian troops attacking Kamenka-Dneprovskaya with artillery, drones

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Free Syrian Army deploys heavy weapons to frontline with Kurds — newspaper

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Trump's coming to power won’t affect international military aid to Ukraine — Pentagon

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Russian Su-35S fighter jets uncover Ukrainian air defense sites in Kursk area

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Change in Pentagon leadership may affect Ukraine Defense Contact Group’s activities

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US court sentences Canadian to 40 months in prison for exporting electronics to Russia

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Termination of Russian gas transit by Kiev contradicts its plan to join EU — Szijjarto

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Armenia not considering removal of Russian military base — Foreign Ministry

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Russia’s Su-35S fighter hit stronghold of Ukrainian forces in Kursk region

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