WTA Finals race heats up as Paolini, Rybakina advance in Ningbo

NINGBO: Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina kept their WTA Finals hopes alive on Friday with contrasting quarter-final wins to set up a high-stakes semi-final showdown at the Ningbo Open.

Second-seeded Paolini battled past Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in a gruelling three-hour 22-minute clash, with a gritty 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory to reach her seventh semi-final of the season.

Paolini staged a comeback from the brink against Bencic, who served for the match at 5-4 in the second set before the Italian turned things around.

“It was one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played, honestly,” said Paolini.

She added, “In the beginning, I made too many mistakes. I couldn’t find my best tennis.”

“But I just tried to stay there every point, I tried to turn the match somehow and I’m happy that I did it.”

Later, third-seeded Rybakina breezed past Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-0 in just 57 minutes.

THREE-DAY RACE

Paolini, Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva are locked in a three-way battle for the two remaining spots in the lineup of the WTA Finals, where the top eight players in the 2025 Race will compete for the prestigious Billie Jean King Trophy next month in Riyadh.

A loss for Rybakina would have ended her chances of qualifying, but the former Wimbledon champion faced little trouble as she claimed her third win in as many meetings with Tomljanovic.

“I won’t say that it’s pressure. Of course, it will be nice to qualify. But I know that for this, I still need to win a lot of matches — not only here, but also next week,” said Rybakina of her pursuit of a WTA Finals ticket.

“I’m just trying to finish the season as best as possible, but the most important thing is always to stay healthy.”

Meanwhile, Ekaterina Alexandrova secured her place as an alternate for the WTA Finals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over McCartney Kessler.

The fourth-seeded Russian will take on Chinese wildcard Zhu Lin or seventh-seeded Diana Shnaider in the other semi-final on Saturday.