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Russia’s Samsonova defeats Ukrainian Starodubtseva in second round of 2025 Wimbledon

The Russian player will now face in the next round the winner of the tournament’s second-round duel between Australian Daria Kasatkina and Irina-Camelia Begu from Romania

LONDON, July 3. /TASS/. Russia’s Lyudmila Samsonova on Thursday knocked out Ukrainian tennis player Yulia Starodubtseva from the 2025 Wimbledon tennis tournament in London and chalked-up another straight sets win.

In the second round of the prestigious Grand Slam tournament, the 19th-seeded Samsonova, who plays as a neutral at international tennis tournaments, breezed past Starodubtseva in straight sets 6-2; 6-1. In the opening round of the tournament Samsonova defeated in straight sets Australia’s Maya Joint 6-3; 6-2.

The Russian player will now face in the next round the winner of the tournament’s second-round duel between Australian Daria Kasatkina (16th-seed) and Irina-Camelia Begu from Romania.

Samsonova, 26, is currently ranked 19th 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.

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.