Ningbo Open 2025 Day 5: Women's singles predictions ft. Elena Rybakina vs Ajla Tomljanovic, Diana Shnaider vs Zhu Lin

Day 5 (Friday, October 17) of the Ningbo Open 2025 will see the players in action for their quarterfinal matches. The final eight women are left standing, and among them are Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini.

Both of them need to win their matches in order to remain in contention for a WTA Finals berth. A win will help Paolini leapfrog Mirra Andreeva in the standings, while a win for Rybakina will aid her in narrowing the gap between her and the women in front of her.

With another day of exciting matches lined up, here are the predictions for the singles matches set to take place on Day 5 of the Ningbo Open 2025:

#1. Elena Rybakina vs Ajla Tomljanovic

After a first-round bye, Rybakina fought past Dayana Yastremska in three sets to reach the quarterfinals of the Ningbo Open. Tomljanovic came through the qualifying rounds and then staged a comeback to upset fifth seed Clara Tauson in the first round. She beat Zeynep Sonmez in straight sets to make the last eight.

Tomljanovic has won back-to-back main draw matches for the first time since May. However, her run is likely to end here. Rybakina has more than thrice as many wins as the Aussie this year. Tomljanovic hasn't beaten a top 10 player since August 2022, losing her last 11 encounters against them.

Rybakina also won both of her previous matches against Tomljanovic, although this will be their first meeting on hardcourts. She will thus be the overwhelming favorite to win this showdown.

Predicted winner: Elena Rybakina to win in straight sets.

#2. Diana Shnaider vs Zhu Lin

Zhu Lin at the China Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Shnaider beat home favorite Wang Xiyu in straight sets to begin her Ningbo Open campaign. She then fought from a set down to beat Karolina Muchova 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the second round. Her record for the season now stands at 26-23.

Zhu has been on a roll at the Ningbo Open. She ousted former US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the first round, and followed it up with an upset win over top seed Mirra Andreeva. She staged a comeback in both of her matches to reach her first quarterfinal of the season. She improved her record for the year to 7-8 at the WTA level with her latest win.

Shnaider leads Zhu 2-0 in the head-to-head. The Russian beat her older rival in the final of the Hua Hin Championships 2024 to claim her maiden WTA title, their most recent tussle. She's also a former finalist at the Ningbo Open, advancing to her very first final on the main tour at the venue in 2023. Considering her record in this rivalry, Shnaider will be expected to come out on top once again.

Predicted winner: Diana Shnaider to win in three sets.

#3. Jasmine Paolini vs Belinda Bencic

Predicted winner: Jasmine Paolini to win in three sets.

#4. Ekaterina Alexandrova vs McCartney Kessler

Predicted winner: Ekaterina Alexandrova to win in straight sets.

About the author

Rohit is a journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in covering tennis. Having been with the company for four years, he has proven himself as a formidable force in the field. With a Master's degree in law, Rohit brings his analytical and research skills to the forefront as a journalist. He stays on top of the game by using social media platforms and never misses a match for on-court insights. He values giving credit where it's due, keeping his reporting fair and accurate.

At the outset of his career, Rohit found his niche in writing previews and SEO pieces and it's this expertise that continues to define his role at Sportskeeda. He is particularly proud of one article that garnered an impressive 750k views and surpassed his "wildest dreams." Rohit is not particularly fond of (GOAT) debates and it is one of the reasons why he left the legal world behind. He prefers to view players in "tiers," where they're all esteemed to an extent. However, if pressed to name favorites, he would choose Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters' journey from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of tennis has been his greatest source of inspiration.

When he isn't busy making spot-on predictions about match outcomes, Rohit likes reading, particularly fantasy, sci-fi, and comics. As an X-Men fanatic, he's also passionate about board games and enjoys watching movies in his spare time. And don't be surprised if you catch him silently wishing to the tennis gods for the removal of ad scoring from doubles.

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Edited by Rohit