NEW YORK, August 28. /TASS/. Russia’s top racquet Mirra Andreeva powered into the third round of the 2025 US Open with another straight sets win on Wednesday.
The 5th-seeded Andreeva, who is playing under a neutral status at the tournament, breezed past her unseeded opponent and fellow Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-1; 6-3, reminiscent of the ease shown in her 55-minute winning rush over US Alycia Parks (6-0; 6-1) in the tournament’s opening round.
In the third round in New York’s Flushing Meadows, Andreeva will face unseeded American Taylor Townsend, who is part of the WTA No. 1 women's doubles team.
Andreeva, 18, is a three-time WTA champion, currently the 5th-ranked player in the world. She is Russia's top-ranked female player. 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.
Russia’s Potapova, 24, is also a three-time WTA champion and is ranked 53rd in the WTA Ranking. Her best showing at Grand Slams was also at the 2024 French Open, where she reached the quarterfinals.
The 2025 US Open is being held on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York between August 24 and September 7. The tournament will award $90 million in prize money. Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus are the reigning 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 moved to exclude 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 participating in the 2022 Davis Cup and the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.