Rybakina wins 11th set point to reach Ningbo final

Elena Rybakina converted her 11th set point in the first set to defeat Diana Shnaider 6-3, 7-5. The victory advances the defending champion to the Ningbo Open final.

Rybakina will face unseeded Canadian Leylah Fernandez on Sunday. Fernandez earned her place by defeating Marie Bouzkova with an identical 6-3, 7-5 scoreline earlier in the day.

The match tested the world number one against Shnaider, the tournament's sixth seed and the 13th-ranked player on the tour. Rybakina started strongly, hitting powerful winners from deep in the court to take control of the opening set.

She struggled to close out that set after a dip in form. Rybakina said the game was long and difficult on her serve. She noted that she played the first balls well but faced many opportunities without converting them.

The second set followed a similar pattern. Rybakina continued to struggle with first-serve accuracy but won key points to break Shnaider and move ahead 4-3. Shnaider responded by breaking back to love in the 10th game.

Rybakina answered with aggressive hitting to take the lead again in the next game. She then served with assurance to close out the match. The 27-year-old three-time Grand Slam winner cited the difficulty of playing against a left-hander. She said switching the pattern during rallies was a challenge, but she was happy to win in two sets.

Rybakina arrives in Ningbo after a rough stretch that included a heavy defeat in Beijing and a withdrawal from Wuhan due to a foot injury. She faces another left-hander in the final. After Sunday's match, she will play in the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo next week. She will then begin defending her WTA Finals title at Indian Wells on November 8.