WTA Ningbo Final Prediction: Elena Rybakina vs Ekaterina Alexandrova

It will be a heavyweight contest to decide the WTA Ningbo Open final as Elena Rybakina chases her first hard-court title of the season against Ekaterina Alexandrova, will look to go one better in her second final of this year’s Asian swing. The Kazakh will boost her chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals with a win, but Alexandrova has been in very fine form. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our prediction for the final, but who will lift the trophy in Ningbo?

WTA Ningbo Final Prediction

Elena Rybakina vs Ekaterina Alexandrova

Head-to-head: Alexandrova 4-1 Rybakina

Elena Rybakina needed to reach the final of the Ningbo Open at the expense of Jasmine Paolini to prolong the race for the WTA Finals qualification for at least one more week. Two more spots remain open at the year-end championships in Riyadh, but with three women contending, one will miss out.

Right now, it is Rybakina who is out of the top eight places. However, a title win in Ningbo will put her just 15 points below Mirra Andreeva, who holds that coveted eighth spot, and the former Wimbledon champion is scheduled to play in Tokyo next week. Rybakina has only lost one set during the tournament, and that was in her opening match against Dayana Yastremska when she was still finding her range.

Ekaterina Alexandrova made it two finals from four tournaments in the Asian swing thanks to another straight-sets win over compatriot Diana Shnaider. The 30-year-old has not lost a set and has dropped just 19 games in three matches. Alexandrova’s last final was in Seoul in September, where she suffered an agonizing three-set defeat to Iga Swiatek.

Alexandrova holds a 4-1 head-to-head lead against Rybakina and won three of those matches in straight sets. But the important statistic is that she’s only faced Rybakina once in the last five years, and the Kazakh is a more formidable ball striker at this stage of her career. It would be a heartbreaker for Alexandrova if she were to lose another final, and with Rybakina looking so assured and composed this week, and eyeing a WTA Finals spot, expect her to dictate this match from start to finish.

Prediction: Rybakina in 2