SYDNEY, January 19. /TASS/. Russia’s Oksana Selekhmetyeva scored her first-ever win in a Grand Slam on Monday after defeating Germany’s Ella Seidel in the opening round of the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne.

The unseeded Russian, who is playing neutrally at the tournament, traded the first two sets with her German opponent, but then got into a huge groove in the third to take the match with a final score of 6-3; 3-6; 6-0.

Next up for Selekhmetyeva will be a match versus unseeded Spaniard Paula Badosa, who secured a spot in the second round of the tournament with a straight-sets win over Kazakh wildcard Zarina Diyas 6-2; 6-4.

Selekhmetyeva, 23, is currently ranked 101st in the WTA (Women Tennis Association) Rankings. Prior to today, she had never been able to get out of the opening round at a Grand Slam.

The 2026 Australian Open tournament is being played on hard courts at Melbourne Park between January 18 and February 1 and has a purse of some $75 million in prize money up for grabs. The season’s first Grand Slam, this year marks the 114th edition of the tournament. Italy’s Jannik Sinner and American Madison Keys are the reigning Australian Open champions in men’s and women’s singles, respectively.

Russian and Belarusian 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.