The Ningbo Open is now underway in China, where WTA superstar Iga Swiatek has been afforded the luxury of being seeded.
Swiatek is the second seed at the WTA 500 tournament, which runs alongside the Osaka WTA 250 event in Japan. Swiatek is playing the Ningbo Open for the first time in her career as she looks to add points to her tally in the race to the WTA Finals.
Swiatek is still keen on making the WTA Finals, but currently finds herself ninth in the rankings, with time rapidly running out. More worryingly, however, only one place remains for Indian Wells, and Karolina Muchova is currently ahead of the Pole in that battle for the last spot.
However, the six-time Grand Slam champion has just been handed a golden lifeline for the year-end event after learning her draw for the Ningbo Open. While she will undoubtedly be taking the tournament one match at a time, Swiatek does have a great chance of going all the way this week.
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Iga Swiatek handed WTA Finals lifeline with Ningbo Open draw
There will be no easy matches at the Ningbo Open, but Swiatek has managed to avoid some tough matches on paper, at least until the latter stages. After her first round bye, she will meet Marie Bouzkova in the second round following her win over qualifier Kamilla Rakhimova.
The Pole would then already be into the quarterfinals with victory over Bouzkova, where either Sorana Cirstea or Sara Bejlek will await. After that, she could play either Marta Kostyuk or Leyla Fernandez in the semifinals. And in a nice boost for Swiatek, the latter just knocked out seventh seed Elise Mertens, who beat the Pole at the China Open earlier this month.
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Should Swiatek make it all the way to the final, world number one Elena Rybakina represents a likely opponent. However, there is no guarantee that the top seed will make it all the way, with Rybakina possibly facing tough tests against the likes of young stars Iva Jovic and Alexandra Eala. And even if she does progress, Swiatek would enter a possible final versus Rybakina with a winning 8-6 head-to-head record over her rival.
Muchova is currently in the driving seat for the last WTA Finals place, sitting seventh in the standings, two places ahead of Swiatek. Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Elina Svitolina and Linda Noskova have already secured qualification for Indian Wells next month.
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