NEW YORK, March 10. /TASS/. Russia’s tennis teen-prodigy Mirra Andreeva is through to the Round 4 of the 2025 Indian Wells Open after defeating Denmark’s Clara Tauson.
The 9th-seeded Russian, who is playing under a neutral status at the tournament, stormed past the Danish 22nd-seed Tauson with straight sets win 6-3; 6-0 and is now has to battle for the spot in the quarterfinals against 7th-seed Yelena Rybakina from Kazakhstan.
"I have been playing good recently," the WTA’s (the Women Tennis Association) official website quoted Andreeva as saying after the match against Tauson. "It just feels that I know exactly what to do on the court."
"For example, I would say that before on some tournaments, it depends on the match, but now I just know that I go out there, doesn't matter who I play, the ball is coming to me and I know what to do," the Russian tennis player continued.
"I just feel like everything is clear in my head, and I know exactly what to do with the ball. It's kind of a good feeling, I can say. I hope that I can maintain this for as long as I can," she added.
Andreeva, 17, is currently ranked 11th in the WTA (the Women's Tennis Association) Rankings. Her best result playing at the Grand Slam series was reaching the semifinals of the 2024 French Open.
She has won two WTA titles so far in her career and she is also the winner a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in women's doubles with partner Diana Shnaider. In 2023, the WTA named Andreeva the rookie of the year.
The 2025 Indian Wells tournament is played on outdoor hard courts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California, the United States, between March 5 and 16 and offers almost $9.6 million and $8.9 million in prize money in men and women’s events correspondingly. Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Poland’s Iga Swiatek are the reigning champions in men and women’s competitions 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 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.