SYDNEY, January 20. /TASS/. Seven Russian tennis players won in the opening round of this year’s first Grand Slam tournament, the 2026 Australian Open, the least since the 2020 event.

Daniil, Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov reached the second round in men’s singles, while Mirra Andreeva, Diana Shnaider, Anna Kalinskaya and Oksana Selekhmetyeva managed to clear the first round in women’s singles. All Russian players are participating in the tournament under a neutral status.

Seven Russian tennis players also reached the second round of the 2020 Australian Open, with Anastasia Pavyuchenkova making the deepest run that year, going all the way to the quarterfinals in women’s singles.

The five Russians who lost in the opening round this year are Yekaterina Alexandrova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Lyudmila Samsonova, Anna Blinkova and Anastasia Zakharova.

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.