The WTA 500 Ningbo Open has been dogged by pullouts, the latest coming in China when both Paula Badosa and Karolina Muchova retired mid-match in the semi-finals.
The crowd is amazing. Honestly, I feel so welcome here, every time I step on the court. Thank you so much guys, it’s amazing. I don’t have many places where I feel like that, so thank you very much for this very warm welcome every time I step on the court, and outside of the court as well. Daria Kasatkina
Marred by several withdrawals by seeded players, resulting in a total of 7 lucky losers stepping up, Saturday saw a mid-match retirement when Paula Badosa, the 8th seed, threw in the towel against Daria Kasatkina, the Russian 5th seed.
It is the second tournament in a row that Badosa has withdrawn from, having pulled out of the Wuhan Open hours before her first match against Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, citing a gastrointestinal illness, and, in what seemed to be another fitness set-back for the Spaniard, she was seen having her blood pressure checked before deciding to withdraw after losing the first set 6-4.
Strong serving from the Russian helped her edge the opener, during which play was interrupted by rain delays, and, at the end of the set, it was announced that Badosa had opted to take a medical timeout, and was given treatment by medics.
Moments later, Badosa shook hands with the umpire, and it was declared that she had retired from the match, allowing Kasatkina to advance to the final.
The weather caused the match to be suspended several times, the first coming after the first game, which Badosa won.
The players then returned, but had to pause a couple more times, causing both to struggle to find some rhythm.
When they returned with Badosa 4-3 up, the 26-year old Spaniard looked sluggish and failed to stay competitive as Kasatkina surged to win the next 3 games and pocketed the set, prompting the 8th seed to retire after just 48 hours.
The win sends Kasatkina into the final and back into the Top 10 next week, as well as giving her a chance to end her season with a WTA 500 title.
“The crowd is amazing,” Kasatkina said after the match. “Honestly, I feel so welcome here, every time I step on the court.
“Thank you so much guys, it’s amazing. I don’t have many places where I feel like that, so thank you very much for this very warm welcome every time I step on the court, and outside of the court as well.”
Kasatkina is into her 6th singles final of the year, all coming at WTA 500 events, while she has gone 1-4 in those finals, winning the title on the grass of Eastbourne.
The 27-year old Russian still could make it to the WTA Finals despite the 8 participants being already set, as she now has secured the 9th place in the WTA Race, with Emma Navarro being 8th, and Barbora Krejcikova having secured a guaranteed spot as the remaining highest-ranked Grand Slam winner of the year.
Navarro, though, has withdrawn from multiple tournaments because of injuries, so the first alternate spot could go to Kasatkina, and, should Krejcikova be forced to withdraw, having retired injured in the quarters at Ningbo, she could make it to play in Riyadh.
Mirra Andreeva also advanced to the final when Karolina Muchova pulled out of their Last 4 encounter in Ningbo, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province
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In the championship match, the Russian will play her fellow countrywoman 17-year old Mirra Andreeva, who advanced from her Last 4 match after Karolina Muchova also retired.
Playing in the late semi-final, the teenage prodigy moved into the highest-level final of her burgeoning career when the former Top 10 Czech retired while trailing 6-2, 1-0.
Currently ranked a career-high No 19, Andreeva is seeking her 2nd career title, and is 1-0 in WTA singles finals so far, having captured her maiden tour-level title on the clay of WTA 250 Iasi this summer.
Andreeva was better player, and it seemed that the Czech was below par as the Russian secured the one-set lead.
She then started the second by winning the first 5 points, leading 1-0 and 15-0, when Muchova decided that she couldn’t continue in the match, opting to retire.
The Russian had fired a number of backhand winners down the line, including on multiple second-serve returns, to power through the early stages, landing 9 winners to Muchova’s 3 in the first set.
A hampered Muchova took a medical time-out for her back after the first set, and the 2023 Roland Garros finalist could only contest one more game before retiring after 46 minutes of play.
There is concern for the Czech, who has suffered with recent injury issues, and has been showing some of her best form of late.
Both Andreeva and Kasatkina are good friends off the court, with Andreeva often appearing in Kasatkina’s vlog series with her girlfriend, and is often the star of the show.
Karolina Muchova was the latest player to pull out of the WTA 500 Ningbo Open this week
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It has been a difficult week for organisers in Ningbo, who faced problems before the first ball was even hit at the WTA event, when many players started withdrawing shortly after the draw was made.
The No 1 seed Jasmine Paolini from Italy, 2nd-seeded Zheng Qinwen from China and No 2 seed Emma Navarro from the USA all pulled out, and were joined by Russians Ekaterina Alexandrova and Anastasia Potapova, plus China’s Wang Yafan, resulting in as many qualifiers and lucky losers making the main draw.
The withdrawals, however, didn’t stop after the tournament started, as, in the quarter-final, the 4th-seeded Barbora Krejcikova from the Czech Republic retired against Andreeva, followed by Muchova, and Badosa in the semis.
