Ningbo: Elena Rybakina continues her tremendous 2026 season with yet another finals appearance. She beat the Russian Diana Shnaider, 6-3, 7-5, in the semifinals of the Ningbo Open on Saturday. She now moves on to the finals against Leylah Fernandez to claim her fourth WTA title of the year. This follows her victories at the US Open, Australian Open and Stuttgart Open.
The defending Ningbo Open champion started the first set confidently, going up 5-3, but she had a tough time putting the set away. In the last game of the set, after going up 40- 0, Rybakina gave up 10 set points on her own serve.
In the second set, Shnaider struggled with her serve, but after falling behind by a game, she broke Rybakina’s serve for the first time to restore parity at 5-5. However, the world No. 1 from Kazakhstan broke back immediately and took the set 7-5 with a more straightforward hold in the final game.
Rybakina took over from Aryna Sabalenka as the top-ranked WTA player in September and will face Fernandez, with whom she has had five matches in the last two years. The Kazakhstani has won three, including the most recent one in the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart Open.
Fernandez beat Marie Bouzkova in straight sets 6-3 7-5 in other semifinals to reach the finals. Agencies
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