Rybakina learns her Ningbo opponent: Polina Kudermetova in the second round

On 20 October, in the first round of the WTA 500 event in Ningbo, qualifier Polina Kudermetova beat Cristina Bucsa 7-6(5), 6-2. That settled Elena Rybakina's first opponent: the world No. 1 and defending Ningbo champion is the top seed and had a first-round bye. According to the WTA draw, their second-round match (round of 16) will be played on Thursday, 22 October; the exact time will be known once the order of play is published. Ningbo is three hours ahead of Astana, so day matches there fall in the morning Kazakhstan time. A win would put Rybakina into the quarterfinals, where she could meet Belinda Bencic (5) or Katarzyna Kawa. The other half of the draw has changed significantly: second seed Iga Swiatek has withdrawn from the tournament with a left thigh injury. This will be Rybakina's first match since she withdrew from the Wuhan Open with a foot injury; there have been no official updates on her fitness since then.