SYDNEY, January 21. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev advanced to the third round of this year’s first Grand Slam series tournament, the 2026 Australian Open on Wednesday, defeating Jalme Faria of Portugal.

The 13th-seeded Rublev, who is playing under a neutral status at the tournament, defeated his unseeded opponent 6-4; 6-3; 4-6; 7-5 and the Russian is now set to play in the next round against 18th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo from Argentina.

Rublev, 28, is currently ranked 15th 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 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.