MELBOURNE, January 28. /TASS/. The duo of Russia’s Vera Zvonareva and Ena Shibahara from Japan reached the semifinals of the 2026 Australian Open on Wednesday in women’s doubles.

Zvonareva, who is playing at the tournament under a neutral status, and Shibahara, defeated Australian pair Kimberly Birrel and Talia Gibson in the quarterfinals 6-4; 6-7 (3-7), 7-5. In the next round, they will play against the duo of Elise Mertens from Belgium and China’s Shuai Zhang.

Zvonareva , 41, has 16 WTA titles in women’s doubles in addition to three Grand Slam titles (2006, 2020 US Open and 2012 Australian Open) also in doubles.

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. Katerina Siniakova from the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend from the United States are the reigning Australian Open champions in women’s doubles.

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.