There’s plenty to play for this week at the WTA 500 2025 AUX Ningbo Open in China, with Mirra Andreeva, Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina all battling it out for the remaining 2 spots at the upcoming PIF WTA Finals in Riyadh, separated by just 407 points in the WTA Race standings.
Last day at the doctor in Wuhan… I feel better now. Too bad I couldn’t continue there, but thanks for the messages. Emma Raducanu
However, one of them will finish outside the Top 8 and will therefore be named as the first alternate in Riyadh.
All three are in the draw here in China, where play started on Monday, but have been given a bye for the second round before competing later in the week for the 500 points on offer to the winner.
Paolini and Rybakina will also play next week in the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan, the final WTA 500 tournament on the 2025 calendar before the finals, which start in Saudi Arabia on November 1.
Seventh seed Diana Shnaider defeated wildcard Wang Xiyu after an hour and 51 minutes on Day 1 of the Ningbo Open in China.
Two seeds started the action on Day 1, with Belinda Bencic, the No. 6 seed from Switzerland, powering past Poland’s Magda Linette, 6-3 6-2, in one hour and 34 minutes, while Diana Shnaider, the 7th seed from Russia, defeated Chinese wildcard Wang Xiyu 7-5 6-3 after 1 hour and 51 minutes.
Bencic heads to Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva, who prevailed 6-4 6-2 over Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in an all-qualifier skirmish that lasted an hour and 39 minutes and recorded the Ukrainian’s first tour-level victory since July when she reached the third round in Montreal.
Shnaider, the 2023 runner-up here in Ningbo, had to come from 0-3 down in the first set and 0-2 down in the second to beat Wang and score her first win in three meetings over the Chinese.
Meanwhile, American McCartney Kessler lost just one match to her compatriot Sofia Kenin, a former Australian Open champion, in a first-round victory that lasted just 53 minutes.
In another first round qualifying match, Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez came from 0-2 down in the third set to beat Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich 2-6, 7-5, 6-3, and now leads their head-to-head lead, 3-1, after their 2 hour 10 minute performance.
British No. 1 Emma Raducanu has recovered from the illness that forced her retirement in the first round of Wuhan, and will play in Ningbo on Tuesday
Wire
In action on Day 2 is Emma Raducanu, the British number 1, who was forced to retire from her first round match against American Ann Li in Wuhan last Tuesday after struggling with the extreme heat.
Raducanu was trailing 6–1, 4–1 when she requested a medical timeout in the second set, after visibly struggling on the court, and after having her pulse and blood pressure checked by medics, the 22-year-old decided she could not continue and the match was ended.
She later posted on social media: “Last day at the doctor in Wuhan… feeling better now.
“Too bad I couldn’t continue there, but thanks for the messages.”
In addition, Raducanu uploaded a photo of himself in the doctor’s office wearing a hoodie and sunglasses.
Making her debut at the Ningbo Open this week, Raducanu admits she must ‘push harder’ if she wants to finish the season on a high note and achieve her ultimate goal of qualifying for the Australian Open in January.
“I think it’s different, but it’s at the end of the season, so you have to push harder physically, you feel it a little bit more, and also mentally, just to concentrate,” she said. “That’s probably the biggest difference.”
The former world No. 10 and US Open champion faces a tough draw in Ningbo, where she meets local wildcard Zhu Lin in her first match. If she wins, she will face top seed and last year’s runner-up Andreeva in Round 2.
Raducanu will also compete in the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo next week, and will conclude her season at the Hong Kong Tennis Open the following week.
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