LONDON, July 1. /TASS/. Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya has advanced at the 2025 Wimbledon tennis tournament after beating Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic in the opening round on Tuesday.
The unseeded Kalinskaya, who plays as a neutral at international tennis tournaments, defeated the Serbian player 6-3; 7-6 (7-4). Up next for the Russian will be a date with Denmark’s Clara Tauson.
Kalinskaya, 26, is ranked 39th in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Rankings. She has never won a title on the WTA tour. Last year, she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, marking her best finish at any Grand Slam in her career.
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.