Rybakina survives semifinal pressure to reach Ningbo final

On October 18, 2025, under Ningbo’s humid coastal lights, Elena Rybakina confronted a pivotal semifinal against Jasmine Paolini, where the outcome could reshape their year-end destinies. The Kazakh’s powerful serve and flat groundstrokes met Paolini’s agile baseline play in a match loaded with implications for the WTA Finals. Rybakina emerged with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in 1 hour and 29 minutes, securing her second final of the season and staving off a potential rankings setback.

Seasonal doubts yield to baseline command

Rybakina’s 2025 campaign had been shadowed by semifinal exits across surfaces, but in this top-10 duel, she channeled that frustration into focused aggression. Stepping inside the baseline early, she redirected Paolini’s topspin with inside-out forehands that stretched the Italian wide, opening crosscourt angles for winners. The crowd’s rising energy mirrored her shift, as a 6-3 first set highlighted her serve variations—flat deliveries down the tee blending with underspin slices to the corner—disrupting Paolini’s rhythm and easing the mental weight of past near-misses.

Paolini pushed with quick footwork and one–two combinations, forcing defensive exchanges that tested Rybakina’s resolve. Yet the Kazakh tightened her returns, keeping depth to neutralize movement on the swift hard courts, where low bounces favored her flat trajectory. This tactical pivot not only quelled unforced errors but turned the humid air thick with tension into a stage for her growing dominance, as murmurs swelled with each hold.

Riyadh berth slips from Paolini’s grasp

Entering as the potential clincher for a Finals spot, Paolini’s aggressive net rushes in the second set aimed to flip the script, but Rybakina’s down-the-line backhand winners extinguished the threats. The Italian’s valiant effort faltered under the pressure, her errors mounting as the stakes amplified every point’s echo across the court. Rybakina’s composure, honed through the tour’s closing grind, preserved her position in the top 10 shuffle, adding vital points to close the gap on those ahead.

With Paolini’s opportunity lost, the last two berths to Riyadh remain open, injecting fresh urgency into the autumn swing. For ongoing updates, follow Ningbo: Scores | Draws | Order of play. Rybakina now carries this momentum into Sunday’s final, where a title could redefine her season and sharpen her chase for the year-end showdown.