Elena Rybakina is yet to be properly tested in her Ningbo title defense and won't be against Katarzyna Kawa either.
Match News and Form
Elena Rybakina barely had to play any tennis in order to enter the quarterfinals in Ningbo as the defending champion. The new world No. 1 received a bye in the first round and later moved past Polina Kudermetova in the second via retirement while leading the opening set by 5-0.
Rybakina has likely cemented her place as the best player of 2026 after winning both hard-court Grand Slams, in addition to final or semifinal runs in Indian Wells, Miami and Toronto. However, she did receive a shock in Asia after losing to world No. 118 Alina Charaeva in the Beijing opening round.
Katarzyna Kawa had not won a match in her last four tournaments in the run-up to this Asian swing. After qualifying for and losing in the first round of Beijing, the Pole has surged into the quarterfinals in Ningbo as a qualifier with four impressive wins, including against Belinda Bencic in straight sets.
Head to Head
This will be their first meeting.
Stats and Facts
Elena Rybakina was on a ten-match winning streak against outside-top-100 players until Beijing a few weeks ago.
Rybakina faced a couple of deciding-set hurdles en route to her triumph in Ningbo last year, her one and only title in China.
Katarzyna Kawa had never beaten a top-30 player in her career until upsetting world No. 14 Belinda Bencic, 7-5, 6-2, this week.
Kawa stands 2-2 in WTA quarterfinals, but she has never played one on hard courts or at WTA 500 level.
Betting Analysis
Needless to say, Elena Rybakina is expected to continue her winning ways in Ningbo without breaking a sweat. The recent Beijing upset was nothing more than a blip for the Kazakh in an otherwise illustrious season.