Top Seed Ann Li Cruises Into Osaka Quarterfinals as Rybakina Advances in Ningbo

Elena Rybakina needed only half an hour to reach the Ningbo Open quarterfinals on Thursday, advancing when Polina Kudermetova retired in tears trailing 5-0 in the opening set. The world No. 1 and defending champion broke six times' worth of pressure into one ruthless start, taking a medical-timeout-interrupted match in 30 minutes for her first win since her US Open triumph 40 days ago. She next faces Poland's Katarzyna Kawa, who overcame nine double faults to stun fifth seed Belinda Bencic 7-5, 6-2. Fourth seed Iva Jovic also marched on in Ningbo, beating Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 6-3 in 82 minutes to set up a quarterfinal with No. 6 Diana Shnaider, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Alexandra Eala. In Osaka, top seed Ann Li was the only seeded player in action at the WTA 250 Japan Open and looked every bit the favorite, defeating Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez 6-3, 6-1 in 88 minutes. It was 2-2 in the first set before the 26-year-old American won 10 of the next 12 games, firing six aces, saving all six break points she faced, and holding a 22-13 edge in winners. She meets Austria's Lilli Tagger in the quarterfinals. Elsewhere in Osaka, Katerina Siniakova beat Magda Linette 6-4, 6-1, Mary Stoiana survived Moyuka Uchijima 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, and Antonia Ruzic advanced when Kayla Day retired after 52 minutes.