LONDON, July 1. /TASS/. Russia’s Yekaterina Alexandrova won her opening round match at the 2025 Wimbledon tennis tournament in London on Tuesday, defeating Priscilla Hon from Australia.

The 18th-seeded Alexandrova, who plays as a neutral at international tennis tournaments, took Hon down in straight sets 6-2; 7-5. Alexandrova will now face Suzan Lamens from the Netherlands in the next round.

Alexandrova, 30, is the 17th-ranked player in the world. She has five career WTA tournament titles. Her best career finish in Grand Slams was at the Wimbledon tournament in 2023, when she reached the fourth round. She is also the winner of the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup.

This year’s Wimbledon takes place between June 30 and July 13 and offers a total of 50 million Euro [some $57.4 million] in prize money. Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic are the reigning Wimbledon 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 on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.