BEIJING, September 30. /TASS/. Russia’s duo of Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov advanced on Tuesday to the doubles final at the 2025 ATP China Open tournament in Beijing.
In the semifinal match, which lasted about an hour, the pair of Russians, who are playing under a neutral status at the tournament, breezed past the team of Benjamin Bonzi from France and Tallon Griekspoor from the Netherlands in straight sets 6-4; 6-2.
In the final, Rublev and Khachanov will play against the duo consisting of Finland’s Harri Heliovaara and Brit Henry Patten.
This is the fifth ATP doubles final for Khachanov and Rublev. The two have one win in those five matches - at the 2023 ATP tournament in Madrid.
Khachanov, 29, has seven career singles titles. His best performance in the Grand Slam series was when he reached the semifinal rounds at the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Australian Open.
The Russian player also took home the silver medal in men’s singles at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. He also won the 2021 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team.
Rublev, 27, is currently ranked 14th in the ATP Rankings list. He has won 17 career ATP singles tournament titles and four more in men’s doubles. Rublev has never made it past the quarterfinals in any Grand Slam.
The Russian tennis player took home the gold at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in mixed doubles (with teammate Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) and also won the 2021 Davis Cup as part of the Russian national team.
The 2025 China Open is an ATP 500 professional tennis tournament. Played on outdoor hard courts at the National Tennis Center in Beijing between September 25 and October 1, this year’s tourney offers over $4 million in prize money.
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.