ROME, May 7. /TASS/. Russia’s top racquet Mirra Andreeva started the 2026 Italian Open tennis tournament, which she joined in the second round after a first-round bye, with a straight-sets win over Antonia Ruzic of Croatia.

In a match that lasted an hour and six minutes, Andreeva, who is playing under a neutral status at the tournament, breezed past her unseeded Croatian opponent 6-1; 6-0.

The 8th-seeded Russian is now set to play in the next round against Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic.

It was pointed out on the tournament’s official website that "the 19-year-old, who reached the Madrid final last week, improved to 14-0 in such matches in 2026… Andreeva leads the WTA Tour in break points converted this season with 165 in main-draw matches."

Andreeva, 19, is a five-time WTA champion and is currently the 8th-ranked player in the world. Her best finish at Grand Slams was at the 2024 French Open when she reached the semifinals. In 2023, the WTA named Andreeva rookie of the year. Playing at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, she won a silver medal in women’s doubles paired with Diana Shnaider.

The 2026 Italian Open tennis tournament is a WTA 1000 event. Played on outdoor clay courts, the 83rd edition of the tourney takes place at Rome’s Foro Italico sports complex on May 5-17. The tournament’s reigning champion is Jasmine Paolini from Italy. Only two Russian female tennis players have won this tournament - Dinara Safina (in 2009) and Maria Sharapova (in 2011, 2012, 2015).

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 decided to bar 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 taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

However, the Women Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.