We have our BNB Ningbo Open finalists.
World No. 1 and top seed Elena Rybakina returned to the championship match after beating sixth-seeded Diana Shnaider 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday.
She'll play Leylah Fernandez, who knocked off Marie Bouzkova by the same score. The World No. 30 is into her second WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz final of the season, and 10th of her career.
Here's everything you need to know about the Ningbo final.
What time does the final start?
The singles final will be played not before 5:00 p.m. local time (5:00 a.m. ET) on Saturday, Oct. 24. It will follow the doubles final, which will be played at 2:30 p.m. local time (2:30 a.m. ET).
Top seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Cristina Bucsa will play Fanny Stollar and Desirae Krawczyk in the doubles final.
How did Rybakina and Fernandez get to the final?
Rybakina has spent significantly less time on court than Fernandez. After receiving a bye into the second round, her first match lasted just a half hour, as Polina Kudermetova retired trailing 5-0 in the first set. Things got interesting in the quarterfinals, though, when she was pushed to a third set by qualifier Katarzyna Kawa. In the semifinal on Saturday, the relatively straightforward 6-3, 7-5 is a bit misleading. Rybakina needed 11 set points to capture the first set, and in the second was broken to love when serving for the match. Still, she enters the final having lost just one set this week.
Fernandez needed just under eight hours to reach the semifinals, winning three consecutive three-setters against seventh-seeded Elise Mertens, Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Ekaterina Alexandrova. Fernandez was on the brink against Mertens in the first round, trailing 5-3 in the decider before rallying to take the final four games. Even the win against Bouzkova, despite being in straight sets, took just under two hours.
Fernandez has gone 11-2 since the start of the Asian Swing.
What would a Ningbo title mean?
If Rybakina beats Fernandez, she'll be a two-time champion at a tournament for the second time in her career, after first accomplishing that feat in Stuttgart earlier this year. It would be the first time she's won a tournament in back-to-back years. This would be her fourth title of the season, and 15th of her career. This title would also go a long way toward Rybakina securing the year-end No. 1 ranking.
As for Fernandez, she's looking to win her second title in as many months, after taking the Singapore Tennis Open in September. This would be her seventh career title, and third WTA 500 title.
Who leads the head-to-head?
Rybakina, 3-2.
They split their first four matches on hard courts, but Rybakina took the rubber match in their lone meeting this year, on clay in Stuttgart. That one was a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (6) epic in the Stuttgart quarterfinals.
Rybakina saved two match points in the come-from-behind win, which lasted exactly three hours. She was aggressive but shaky, with 51 winners to 40 unforced errors, but came through in the clutch with four break points converted in eight opportunities. Fernandez, meanwhile, couldn't take advantage of her open windows in that match, converting just three break points in 14 chances.
What are the ranking points and prize money at stake?
The winner will receive 500 ranking points and $185,500. Rybakina is currently defending those 500 points as reigning champion.
The runner-up will get 325 ranking points and take home $114,500.
