by Mirra Andreeva and Daria Kasatkina meet for the Ningbo Open title on Sunday, having each reached the penultimate WTA 500 final of the season after being eliminated in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Ningbo: Points | Pulls | Order of play
In the first semifinal of the day, No. 5 seed Kasatkina advanced to the championship match when No. 8 seed Paula Badosa was eliminated due to dizziness immediately after Kasatkina’s 6-4 win in the first set.
“I feel sorry for Paula and I wish her all the best,” Kasatkina said afterwards. “It’s never easy to finish a game like this, especially in the semi-finals.”
After a lengthy postponement due to rain, Kasatkina and Badosa took the court and played an opening frame marked by two more rain interruptions. Kasatkina won the final three games of that set before Badosa ended the duel between the former top 10 players.
Kasatkina is in her sixth singles final of the year, and all of those finals in 2024 have come at WTA 500 events. Kasatkina won the title on the Eastbourne turf and finished second on the other occasions.
““Of course it’s been a great season, I’ll play another final tomorrow,” said Kasatkina. “It feels great that I’ve been able to get through this season very consistently and healthy so far and stuff. “That’s something I really appreciate.
Andreeva expects: In the late semi-final, 17-year-old Andreeva advanced when former top 10 player Karolina Muchova was eliminated from their duel. Andreeva was leading 6-2, 1-0 when Muchova stopped play with a back injury.
““I don’t want to end the match like that,” Andreeva said afterwards. “I’m just happy with how I managed to play the first set.” Of course I just hope it’s nothing too serious and we can see it [Muchova] back on the pitch soon.
Andreeva is currently ranked 19th in her career and is aiming for the second and highest WTA title of her budding career. She is 1-0 in WTA singles finals so far, having won her first tour title on the clay of the WTA 250 Iasi this summer.
“[Coach Conchita Martinez] told me, ‘Well, Mirra, you have to be patient today,'” Andreeva said at the end of her rainy Saturday. “I think we waited about five hours before I [went] to warm up before my game.
“We played some Uno, it was the longest game of Uno I think we’ve ever played.” We played for an hour – and in the end I won.
On Saturday, Andreeva fired a series of backhand winners across the board, including several second serve returns, to prevail in the early stages of the semifinals. Andreeva had nine winners in the first set, Muchova three.
A disabled Muchova took a medical timeout for her back after the first set and the Roland Garros 2023 finalist was only able to play one more game before retiring.
Head-to-head start: Sunday’s final marks the first meeting between Andreeva and Kasatkina.
“I know tomorrow will be a great game,” Andreeva said. “[Kasatkina] is a fighter, she won her last fights in combat. And of course I think we’re pretty good friends, so it’s going to be a tough game both mentally and physically.
