SYDNEY: Teen Russian tennis prodigy Mirra Andreeva on Friday moved on to the fourth round of this year’s first Grand Slam tournament, the 2...
SYDNEY: Teen Russian tennis prodigy Mirra Andreeva on Friday moved on to the fourth round of this year’s first Grand Slam tournament, the 2024 Australian Open.
In her Round 3 match, which lasted almost two and a half hours, the Russian player scored a comeback win over France’s Diane Parry with a final score of 1-6; 6-1; 7-6 (10-5).
"I don't think it's a big deal," the tournament’s official website quoted Andreeva as saying after her match with Parry. "I mean, fourth round, yes, I'm 16, maybe it's a bit new. Honestly, I don't think that I did something amazing. I'm just trying to win a match. I'm just trying to fight."
"Fourth round is nothing. Maybe if I win a Slam, I have to win three more matches, and it's really tough to win seven matches in a row," she continued.
"I don't think that I did something incredible. I have time to do it, I hope," the Russian player added.
Andreeva is now set to face off in the next round against the winner of the duel between Australia’s Storm Hunter and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
The sixteen-year-old Andreeva is currently ranked 47th in the WTA (the Women Tennis Association) Rankings. Last year, in Grand Slams she reached the 3rd round of the French Open, made it all the way to the 4th round at Wimbledon and then battled her way into Round 2 of the US Open. In 2023, the WTA named Andreeva the rookie of the year.
The 2024 Australian Open tournament is being played on hard courts at Melbourne Park from January 14-28 and has a purse of $57.8 mln in prize money up for grabs. The opening tournament of the annual Grand Slam series in Australia marks its 112th edition this year. Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka are the reigning Australian Open champions in men’s and women’s singles, respectively.
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 cancelling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.
On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
However, the Women’s 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.
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