Jasmine Paolini came back from one set down to beat Belinda Bencic 5-7 7-5 6-3 after 3 hours and 23 minutes in the quarter finals of the Ningbo Open. Paolini played the longest match of the season.
Paolini had to rally fron a set and a break down twice to beat Bencic, who served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, ahead of her 2-hour. 47 minute defeat against Amanda Anisimova in Beijing. Paolini has exceeded the three-hour mark for the first time since the quarter finals in Palermo in 2022, where she bear Nuria Parrizas Diaz.
Paolini earned an early break in the second game with a lob and held a triple game point at 0-40 for 3-0, but Bencic won five consecutive points to break back. Both players held serve in the next three games before a streak of five consecutive breaks. Bencic went up a break in the seventh game twice, but Paolini pulled back on serve both times to draw level to 5-5. Bencic converted her fourth break point in the 11th game and served out 7-5 on her second set point in the 12thgame. Bencic hit 15 winners to Paolini’s seven in the first set.
Bencic won nine of the next twelve games to take a 2-1 lead with a break in the third game of he second set. Bencic held five points for a 3-1 lead, but Paolini converted her fifth break point after eight deuces to draw level to 2-2. Bencic earned her second break to take a 5-4 lead, but Paolini broke straight back at love to draw level to 5-5 with a crosscourt backhand. The 29-year-old Italian player saved six break points in the 11th game and held serve after seven deuces.
Paolini won nine of the twelve games from 5-4 down in the second set.
Bencic, who beat Yulia Starodubtseva after 3 hours and 33 minutes in the previous round, required a medical time-out in the third set. Paolini sealed the win with a break in the eighth game and sealed the win on her first match point.
Jasmine Paolini: “It was one of the toughest matches I ever played, honestly. Belinda, she’s an amazing player and a very good person. Today she deserved to win as well, so it was really tough. I’m happy I stayed there, because at the beginning I had too many mistakes. I couldn’t find my best tennis, but then I just tried to stay there every point and turn the match somehow.”
Paolini is one win away from securing her qualifying spot for the WTA Finals in Riyadh. She will face Elena Rybakina in a decisive semifinal match on Saturday. Rybakina beat Ajla Tomljanovic in the other quarter final. If Paolini wins the semifinal, she will qualify for he WTA Finals in Riyadh and the final spot will be decided between Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva. If Rybakina wins the semifinal, the last two spots will remain open with Paolini, Rybakina and Andreeva still in contention. Paolini ad Rybakina are both entered in next week’s Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Andreeva would need a wild card to play in Tokyo.
Paolini leads 3-2 in her head-to-head matches against Rybakina. She beat her Kazakh opponent 7-6 (7-5) 6.4 at last year’s WTA Finals in Riyadh in their most recent head-to-to-head match.
Jasmine Paolini: “Of course it’s in my mind, but when I step on court I try to think about the tennis. If I want to qualify, I have to play good matches, I have to win matches. It’s not easy, but I try to focus on my tennis and let’s see what happens.”
Rybakina cannot secure for Ryadh even with a title in Ningbo.
Elena Rybakina: “I know for this I still need to win a lot of matches, not only here but also next week. I just try to finish the season as best as possible, but the most important is always to be healthy. This season has been very long and not that successful for me, but I still think pretty decent.”
