LONDON, July 1. /TASS/. Russia’s Mirra Andreeva on Tuesday defeated Mayar Sherif from Egypt in the opening round of the 2025 Wimbledon tennis tournament in London.

The 7th-seeded Andreeva, who plays as a neutral at international tennis tournaments, breezed past Sherif in straight sets 6-3; 6-3. She will now face Lucia Bronzetti from Italy in the next round.

Andreeva, 18, is a three-time WTA champion. She is Russia's top-ranked female player according to the WTA Rankings (7th). Her best finish at Grand Slams was at the 2024 French Open when she reached the semifinals. In 2023, the WTA named Andreeva the rookie of the year. Playing at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, she won a silver medal in women’s doubles paired with Diana Shnaider.

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.