While sports including football and rugby initially imposed bans on Russian and Belarusian teams participating in competitions following the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, tennis players from the two countries were not barred from competing by their governing bodies.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) suspended the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation from international team competition but allowed players to continue as individuals.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and men’s association (ATP) joined the ITF in suspending events due to be held in Russia and told players from the nations that they could not appear under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus.
That has seen the likes of Russia’s Daniil Medvedev and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka play at grand slams as neutrals since 2022.
MORE: Tennis scoring, explained
Are Russians and Belarusians allowed to play at the Australian Open in 2025?
There will be no restrictions on Russians and Belarusians playing at the Australian Open in 2025.
However, they still aren’t allowed to compete under their country’s flag or name.
This includes their clothing and also on the TV broadcast.
These players include top 20 men’s players Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen…
