Number 3 seed Elena Rybakina beat number 2 seed Jasmine Paolini 6-3 6-2 in 1 and 29 minutes in the first semifinal of the WTA 500 tournament in Ningbo. With this win Rybakina keeps her hopes alive of qualifying for the WTA Finals in Ryadh.
Paolini could have secured her qualifying spot for Ryadh with a win over Rybakina. The battle for the final two spots will be decided at next week’s Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Mirra Andreeva is still in contention.
Rybakina has drawn level to 3-3 in her head-to-head matches against Paolini. Before today’s match the Kazakh player lost her last two matches against her Italian rival.
Rybakina fired 30 winners, including 10 aces, and saved all seven break points she faced to reach her second final of the season.
Rybakina saved two break points across in the first and fifth games before earning the first break on her fourth opportunity in the eighth game to seal the opening set 6-3.
Paolini went up 2-1 as the first three games of the second set went on serve Rybakina won five consecutive games with two breaks in the fifth and seventh games and sealed the second set 6-2 after saving four break points.
“I knew the match would be very tough. Jasmine played really well this season. She’s a really tough opponent. I knew I’d need to bring my best. I’m happy I stayed focused til the end and I won it in straight sets,” said Rybakina in her on-court interview.
Rybakina will face Ekaterina Alexandrova, who beat Diana Schnaider 6-3 6-4.
