No. 2 seed Jasmine Paolini kept her hopes of qualifying for the WTA Finals alive with a gritty comeback win over 6th seed Belinda Bencic at the WTA 500 2025 AUX Ningbo Open, beating Tokyo’s Olympic gold medalist 5-7 7-5 6-3 in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Honestly one of the toughest I’ve ever played. Belinda, she is a great player and a very good person. Today she deserved to win too, so it was very tough. I’m glad I stayed there because I made too many mistakes in the beginning. I couldn’t find my best tennis, but I tried to stay there at every point and change the match somehow. Jasmine Paolini
The Italian will face No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals on Saturday after the Russian-born Kazakh took less than an hour to beat Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2 6-0 later on Day 5.
The two-time Grand Slam finalist needs a victory over Rybakina in the Last 4 to qualify for next month’s WTA Finals in Riyadh.
“Of course it’s in my mind, but when I step on the court I try to think about the tennis,” she said after beating Bencic in 3 hours and 22 minutes. “If I want to qualify, I have to play good matches and win matches. It’s not easy, but I’m trying to concentrate on my tennis and see what happens.”
For Rybakina, who can’t quite secure her spot this week even if she wins the title, Riyadh is still a not-too-distant goal.
“I know, I still have to win many matches, not only here, but also next week,” said the Kazakh after her easy victory. “I’m just trying to finish the season as best as I can, but the most important thing is always to be healthy. This season has been very long and not that successful for me, but I still think it’s pretty decent.”
Elena Rybakina flew past Ajla Tomjlanovic to reach the semi-finals of the Ningbo Open, where she will meet Jasmine Paolini on Saturday
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The Italian battled Bencic in an epic barn burner that was Paolini’s longest match of her season and had to muster all her nerve to take the victory.
The 28-year-old Swiss, who won the longest match of the year a round earlier, suffered a defeat of 3 hours and 33 minutes against Yuliia Starodubtseva on Wednesday. served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but was unable to close it out.
Her momentum was further interrupted in the decider when she took a medical timeout due to a thigh problem while trailing 4–3, and she ended the match with visible restriction of movement.
“Honestly one of the toughest I’ve ever played,” said Paolini, who finished second at the French Open and Wimbledon last year. “Belinda, she is a great player and a very good person. Today she deserved to win too, so it was very tough.”
“I’m glad I stayed there because in the beginning I made too many mistakes. I couldn’t find my best tennis, but after that I just tried to stay there every point and change the match somehow.”
It was the first time in more than three years that Paolini had surpassed the three-hour mark, not since the quarter-finals of Palermo in 2022, where she defeated Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz in three hours and six minutes.
Against Bencic, a fine lob allowed Paolini to take an early lead, and the No. 2 seed had a triple-game point for 3-0, but was denied as the Swiss put together a 5-point run to gain a foothold in the match.
Although a series of five consecutive breaks towards the end of the first set increased the tension, ultimately Paolini was always in the chase while Bencic delivered superior attacking tennis.
The Swiss scored 15 winners to Paolini’s 7 in the opener, and, trailing 0–2, won 9 of the next 12 games to take a 2–1 lead with a break in the second set.
The next game proved to be one of the two most important multi-deuce battles in the set, both of which Paolini won.
Bencic had 5 points for a 3-1 lead, but couldn’t cross the line, as Paolini unleashed her forehand to navigate past 8 deuces before converting her 5th break point of the match.
The Swiss broke again at 4-4 but, when serving for the match, was foiled by some of Paolini’s best tennis, the most notable of which was a clapped backhand corner on the cross court from outside the tram lines to seal a love break.
Another 7 deuce marathon followed, this time on Paolini’s serve, as the 29-year-old managed to fend off 6 break points and hold on with 3 consecutive unreturned deliveries.
After losing nine of twelve games earlier in the match, the little Italian eventually finished the match by winning nine of twelve at 4-5 down in the second set.
Bencic threw an error-strewn service game to lose the second set, but then physically faded in the closing stages as Paolini continued to rise.
Fourth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova secured an alternate spot at the WTA Finals with a straight sets victory against McCartney Kessler on Friday
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The Italian is now one win away from guaranteeing her place in Riyadh, but she will have to beat Rybakina in the semi-finals, leaving the last available spot between Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva at the Toray Pan Pacific Open next week.
If Rybakina wins on Friday, the last two spots will remain open, while Paolini, Rybakina and Andreeva are still in contention, and will play for everyone next week in Tokyo.
Both Paolini and Rybakina will play next week, but Andreeva would need a wildcard to participate.
Rybakina breezed through her meeting with Tomljanovic in 57 minutes, scoring 7 aces despite committing 9 double faults.
The former Wimbledon champion has now won 50 matches on tour this year and reached seven semi-finals.
“Today I think I served well,” she said. “It’s not easy to play against Ajla. Today a lot of things went my way. Also some lines that I caught. Overall I’m happy that I won in two sets. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Paolini leads their head-to-head match 3-2, including a win in their only completed match on hard courts to date, at last year’s WTA Finals Riyadh, 7-6(5) 6-4, their most recent meeting.
7th seed Diana Shnaider reached the Last 4 with a 3-set victory over local wildcard Zhu Lin, where she will meet her compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova.
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Fourth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova brushed aside American McCartney Kessler, 6-3 6-3, in an hour and 39 minutes to set up a Last 4 clash with compatriot and seventh seed Diana Shnaider, who defeated local favorite Zhu Lin 2-6 6-3 6-1 later on Friday, needing an hour and 49 minutes to advance.
For Bencic, an alternate position at the WTA Finals had still been a possibility ahead of her quarter-final match, but her loss, combined with Alexandrova’s victory over Kessler, means the Russian world number 10 is confirmed as an alternate.
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