World number one Elena Rybakina recovered from a second-set dip to beat Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa on Friday and reach the semi-finals of the Ningbo Open.
Top seed and defending champion Rybakina cruised through the opening set but was forced into a decider by the 128th-ranked Kawa before sealing a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory.
‘I actually started pretty well,’ Rybakina said in her on-court interview. ‘Everything was going in. The serve was working. Then in the second set I dropped a little bit.
‘There was not enough energy on the serve, some mistakes here and there, and very cold games. Also, she played really well a few moments, so it changed in the second set pretty quickly.
‘But I’m happy that in the third set I stayed aggressive and kept on playing my game,’ she added.
Moscow-born Kazakh Rybakina will face Russian sixth seed Diana Shnaider in the last four in eastern China.
Sixth-seeded Shnaider delivered a remarkable performance in what has been the most thrilling contest of the week so far, defeating fourth-seeded Iva Jovic in a fiercely contested three-set quarter-final. In a match filled with intensity, momentum shifts, and high-quality tennis, Shnaider emerged victorious with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 scoreline after two hours and 11 minutes of gripping action.
Shnaider made a strong start, claiming the opening set 6-3 with her aggressive play and composure under pressure.
However, Jovic responded impressively in the second set, raising her level to secure a 6-4 win and force a decisive third set. With the match hanging in the balance, Shnaider regained control, producing a dominant display in the final set to seal the victory 6-1 and book her place in the semi-finals.
Shnaider, the 2023 runner-up to Ons Jabeur and a semi-finalist last year, also avenged a 6-4, 1-6, 6-0 loss to Jovic in the Dubai second round this February, their only previous meeting.
‘It was a very high quality match from both of us,’ Shnaider said in her on-court interview.
‘Second set was very close, but she played better — she was a little bit more aggressive and that’s why she won. But I tried to regroup after the second set and fight for the third set,’ she added.
Though both players thrilled the Ningbo crowd with a succession of high-octane all-court exchanges, it was Shnaider who demonstrated a greater range throughout.
Rybakina holds a 2-0 lead over Shnaider in their head-to-head record, winning both meetings in straight sets earlier this year in Stuttgart and Cincinnati.
Canada’s Leylah Fernandez plays Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in the other semi-final.
Fernandez won 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 against Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach her second tour semi-final of 2026.
Rybakina, 27, won the US Open for her third Grand Slam crown in September and usurped Aryna Sabalenka as world number one in New York.
She was then stunned in the second round in Beijing at the start of this month, and pulled out of the Wuhan Open citing a foot injury.
Earlier this week, Karolina Muchova secured the last spot at the season-ending WTA Finals after Marta Kostyuk retired in Ningbo with wrist pain and Iga Swiatek withdrew with a thigh injury.