BERLIN, June 24. /TASS/. Russia’s top female tennis star Mirra Andreeva fell to her compatriot Yekaterina Alexandrova in the second round of the 2026 WTA Bad Homburg Open in Germany on Wednesday.

The 2nd-seeded Andreeva lost in straight sets 3-6; 4-6 to unseeded Alexandrova. Both players are playing under a neutral status at the tournament.

Playing last year at the tournament in Germany, Alexandrova reached the quarterfinals. In the next round she is set to face off against 6th-seed Naomi Osaka of Japan, who earlier in the day breezed past Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6-3; 6-3.

Alexandrova, 31, is currently the world’s No. 19 player, according to the WTA Rankings. She holds five career WTA titles under her belt and played in four Grand Slam quarterfinal matches. She also won the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup playing for the Russian national team.

Andreeva, 19, won the French Open earlier in the month and is a five-time WTA title holder overall. She is currently 5th in the WTA Rankings. 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 Bad Homburg tennis tournament is the WTA-500 class event, it runs between June 21 and 27 on outdoor grass courts Bad Homburg, Germany, and it offers $1.2 million in prize money. Jessica Pegula of the United States is the reigning champion. Russia’s Diana Shnaider won this tournament in 2024.

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.