Ningbo draw: Can Zheng hold off Navarro and qualify for the WTA Finals?

The Hologic WTA Tour heads to Ningbo, China next week for the Ningbo Open, the penultimate WTA 500 tournament of the season. With the PIF Race to the WTA Finals coming down the wire, the stakes are high in Ningbo, where 10 of the Top 20 on the PIF WTA Rankings are scheduled to play. 

Ningbo: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

World No.6 Jasmine Paolini, No.7 Zheng Qinwen, No.8 Emma Navarro and No.10 Barbora Krejcikova are the top four seeds in Ningbo and have received first-round byes. 

With two weeks left in the Hologic WTA Tour regular season, Ningbo will serve as a crucial tournament for two players in particular: Zheng and Navarro. Zheng entered the Asia swing at No.9 on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals Leaderboard behind No.7 Navarro. The Top 7 on the Race Leaderboard at the end of the regular season will automatically qualify for the WTA Finals Riyadh.

But after a three-week run that included her first China Open semifinal and a final at the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open, Zheng has surged ahead of Navarro, and will go into Ningbo at No.7. Zheng still has the chance to build on her point lead on Sunday, when she faces World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the Wuhan final.

Top half 

Paolini and Navarro anchor the top half of the Ningbo draw along with No.6 seeds Beatriz Haddad Maia and No.8 seed Paula Badosa. Paolini, Haddad Maia and Badosa have all enjoyed good success during the fall Asian swing. Haddad Maia picked up her first Hologic WTA Tour title of the year at the Hana Bank Open in Seoul, while Badosa made the final four in Beijing and Paolini progressed to the quarterfinals in Wuhan. 

Badosa withdrew from Wuhan due to illness and will return to competition against Diana Shnaider in the first round. 

Navarro will need to rebound from her 0-2 start to her China swing if she is to lock down an automatic berth for her first WTA Finals. She will face either Magda Linette or Katerina Siniakova in her second-round opener and could face Haddad Maia in the quarterfinals.

Bottom half

Zheng and Krejcikova are the top seeds in the bottom half of the draw, along with No.5 seed Daria Kasatkina and No.7 seed Anna Kalinskaya. Zheng will have a quick turnaround to Ningbo and could face Beijing finalist Karolina Muchova in her opener. The Czech, who defeated Zheng in the Beijing semifinals, withdrew from Wuhan last week due to fatigue. She will face either a qualifier or lucky loser in the first round.