World No. 1 Elena Rybakina will play for her fourth title of the season Sunday at the Ningbo Open in China, opposing Canada's Leylah Fernandez.
Both players posted 6-3, 7-5 victories on Saturday. Top-seeded Rybakina, from Kazakhstan, beat No. 6 Diana Shnaider of Russia and Fernandez topped Czech Marie Bouzkova.
Rybakina, who won the WTA 500 tournament last year, is seeking the first successful title defense of her career and her 15th career title. Fernandez has six career titles, winning in Singapore in September. Rybakina holds a 3-2 lead in their head-to-head series.
Japan Open
Ashlyn Krueger defeated fellow American and No. 1 seed Ann Li 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 to earn a place in the finals in Osaka.
Li lost serve in the first game of the third set and could not catch up. Serving down 5-3 in the third, Li went up 40-0 and squandered the lead, with Krueger winning on her second match point.
Krueger won the title in Osaka in 2023 and is 10-2 in her career at the WTA 250 tournament. She will face Czech Katerina Siniakova, who defeated No. 8 Katie Boulter of Great Britain 6-1, 6-4 in the other semifinal.
--Field Level Media