World number one Elena Rybakina reached the quarter-finals of the Ningbo Open on Thursday on her return from injury when opponent Polina Kudermetova retired. Moscow-born Kazakh Rybakina will face Poland’s unseeded Katarzyna Kawa in the last eight. Because of injury, the top seed and defending champion was cruising 5-0 in eastern China when the world number 105 from Uzbekistan called it quits.
Rybakina, 27, won the US Open for her third Grand Slam crown in September and usurped Aryna Sabalenka as world number one in New York.
She was then stunned in the second round in Beijing at the start of this month, and pulled out of the Wuhan Open citing a foot injury. The Russian world number 13 won 7-5, 6-4 and will face the talented American teenager Iva Jovic in the quarter-finals. The 21-year-old Eala in August became the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA title and is typically followed by a throng of fans from her country.
