Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina ended a five-month wait to reach another final, following an impressive victory over Jasmine Paolini in the Ningbo Open semi-finals. Rybakina won with a score of 6-3, 6-2 in a match that lasted 89 minutes in China. The Kazakh tennis player achieved 10 aces, but had to defend seven break points against Paolini, who was the second seed.
After failing to advance in the semifinals of the Citi Open, the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters in recent months, Rybakina will seek to add the Ningbo Open title to the WTA 500 event she won on clay in Strasbourg on May 24. This victory keeps Rybakina’s hopes alive of participating in the end-of-season WTA Finals, after Paolini lost the opportunity to secure her place in the Turin tournament with a win on Saturday. Ekaterina Alexandrova, who is in the top 10 for the first time in her career, will face Rybakina, the third seed, in the final, after defeating Diana Shnaider with a score of 6-3, 6-4.I knew the match would be very difficult. Jasmine has played very well this season. She is a very tough opponent and I knew I would have to give my best. I am happy to have stayed focused until the end and won in straight sets.
Elena Rybakina
