SHANGHAI, November 1. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Anna Blinkova reached the final of the 2025 WTA Jiangxi Open in China on Saturday, defeating Dominika Salkova of the Czech Republic.

The Russian, who is playing under a neutral status at the tournament, cruised past her Czech opponent with a straight-set win of 6-4; 6-4 and is now set to play for the tournament’s title in China against 17-year-old Austrian Lilli Tagger, who later in the day outplayed the tournament’s reigning champ Viktorija Golubic from Switzerland (6-1; 4-6; 7-5).

Blinkova said after her win over Salkova speaking in Chinese that "It was a tough match today."

"My opponent played well. I have been brave and showing willpower. Thank you for cheering for me. I like playing in China, I feel good here in China and I'm so grateful to my Chinese fans," the official WTA website quoted the Russian as saying.

Austria’s Tagger was curt speaking about her venture into the final of the tournament in China saying "I'm still shaking!"

"If you asked me a question about playing the final earlier this week I would say no, it's too early. I couldn't think about it," the WTA official website quoted her as saying.

Blinkova, 27, is currently ranked 95th in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Rankings, and has one career WTA tournament title under her belt. She has played in numerous Grand Slam tournaments, but has never made it past the 3rd round.

The 2025 WTA Jiangxi Open is played on outdoor hard courts in China’s Jiujiang between October 27 and November 2 and forms part of the WTA 250 tournaments of the 2025 WTA Tour. Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic is the tournament’s reigning champion.

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.