Ningbo, 24 October. Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina reached the final of the WTA 500 tournament in Ningbo, China, for the second year in a row, beating Russia's Diana Shnaider, the world No. 13, 6–3, 7–5 in 1 hour 35 minutes in the semi-final, Zakon.kz reports.
In the final on 25 October Rybakina will face Canada's Leylah Fernandez. She is the defending champion: last year she won the tournament by beating Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova in the final.
In the quarter-final Rybakina beat Poland's Katarzyna Kawa in three sets and admitted afterwards that she had lacked energy on serve. From 26 October to 1 November she will play at a tournament in Japan.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan's top-ranked man Alexander Bublik was preparing for his semi-final against Daniil Medvedev at the home ATP 250 Almaty Open.
What it means: Rybakina is defending her Ningbo title and on Sunday, Republic Day, can win the tournament for a second year running.
Who benefits: Rybakina gains ranking points and a shot at the title; Kazakh tennis has both its leaders in semi-finals or finals in the same week.
Background: WTA 500 is the third-highest category of women's professional tour events, after the Grand Slams and WTA 1000 tournaments.
We have also reported that Bublik would face Medvedev in the Almaty Open semi-final and Rybakina would play in Ningbo.
