Katarzyna Kawa beats Belinda Bencic in Ningbo, reaches quarterfinal against Rybakina

Upset in the Ningbo round of 16

Katarzyna Kawa beat Belinda Bencic 7:5, 6:2 on Thursday, 22 October, in the round of 16 of the WTA 500 event in Ningbo, China. Bencic, a former Tokyo Olympic champion, is ranked 14th in the world, and TVP Info reported that it was Kawa's first career win over a player from the top 20. Kawa reached the main draw through qualifying, where Katie Volynets and Daria Snigur both retired against her. Her first main-draw opponent was supposed to be Maja Chwalińska, but Chwalińska withdrew, so Kawa played Snigur instead and won in three sets. Iga Świątek and Maja Chwalińska had both withdrawn from the tournament before Kawa's run. Interia Sport described Bencic as not in her best form this season, although she was the favourite on paper. Kawa led 3:0 early, Bencic levelled at 3:3, and the first set went to Kawa after a late break.

Ranking and prize money

Before the tournament Kawa was 128th in the world, and the live WTA ranking now lists her 106th, her best position in her career. Her previous high was 112th, reached in November 2020. Polsat Sport projects that a title in Ningbo, with no further points for her rivals, would lift her to 51st. For reaching the quarterfinal she is guaranteed 108 ranking points and 33,475 dollars, according to Interia Sport, which puts her gross prize money this season at 506,435 dollars. That total includes 197,300 dollars from the United Cup, where she played mixed doubles with Jan Zieliński.

Quarterfinal against Rybakina

Kawa's next opponent is Jelena Rybakina, the world No. 1, who had not yet completed a full set at the tournament because she received a first-round bye. In the second round her opponent, Polina Kudiermietova of Uzbekistan, called for a physio while trailing 3:0 and then retired after five games, with Rybakina ahead 5:0. The quarterfinal is scheduled for Friday, 23 October, not before 13:00 Polish time.

Reaction from the WTA

The WTA posted about the win on X and described it in Polish as "Ogromne zwycięstwo", which translates as "huge victory". Its post also called the win the biggest success of Kawa's career. Polish media spread the result quickly, and interest in Polish tennis grew after Świątek and Chwalińska had withdrawn from the event. Kawa's result is expected to lift her to around 106th in the rankings after Ningbo.