MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. /TASS/. Russia's top female racquet Mirra Andreeva has cleared the second round of the 2026 China Open tennis tournament defeating on Friday Yue Yuan from China.

The 4th-seeded Russian, who is playing under a neutral status at the tournament, gave away the opening set to her Chinese opponent but then found her groove, not losing a single game in the final two, winning 3-6; 6-0; 6-0.

Andreeva is now set to face off in the next round against Uzbekistan’s Polina Kudermetova, who outplayed later in the day Canada’s Clara Tauson 6-4; 4-6; 6-4.

Andreeva, 19, is currently ranked 5th in the WTA Rankings. She won the French Open in June and is a six-time WTA title holder overall. In 2023, Andreeva was named WTA rookie of the year. At the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, she won a silver medal in women’s doubles paired with Diana Shnaider.

The 2026 China Open is a WTA 1,000 professional tennis tournament. Played on outdoor hard courts at the National Tennis Center in Beijing between September 30 and October 11, this year’s tourney offers over $4 million in prize money. Amanda Anisimova is the tournament’s reigning champion, but she is skipping it due to an earlier sustained injury.

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.