Elena Rybakina beat Diana Shnaider 6-3, 7-5 in Saturday night's semifinal at the BNB Ningbo Open.
The World No. 1 needed 1 hour 35 minutes on hard courts at the WTA 500. She converted her 11th set point to take the opener after letting the first 10 slip away, the WTA reports. Broken at love while serving for the match, she still closed it out. Rybakina faced just one break point all match and hit 42 unforced errors.
Shnaider, the No. 6 seed, is the same player who ended Alexandra Eala's Ningbo week. On Thursday, 22 Oct, Shnaider beat Eala 7-5, 6-4 on her seventh match point in 1 hour 55 minutes, per the WTA. That win sent Eala out in the round of 16.
In the other semifinal, Singapore champion Leylah Fernandez beat Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 7-5 in 1 hour 58 minutes. It is Fernandez's second final of the season and the 10th of her career.
Sunday's final is Rybakina against Fernandez. Rybakina is defending her Ningbo title. The WTA says she leads their head-to-head 3-2. Sunday is their sixth tour-level meeting and their first in a final. It is Rybakina's 28th career final; Fernandez is chasing her seventh career title.
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