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World No. 1 Elena Rybakina defended her Ningbo Open title with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the final on Sunday, October 25, 2026. The top-seeded Kazakh secured her fourth title of the season and the 15th WTA Tour singles trophy of her career, earning her first championship since reaching the top of the world rankings.
Rybakina made the decisive moves in both sets, using her powerful groundstrokes to put Fernandez under pressure and prevent the Canadian from building sustained momentum. The scoreline was identical in each set, with the defending champion winning 6-2, 6-2.
According to Sky Sports, Rybakina saved all four break points she faced and finished the match with a forehand winner on her first match point. The win was reported to have taken one hour and 16 minutes by IANS, while AFP reported a similar duration. Rybakina’s ability to protect her serve proved important as Fernandez tried to find a way back into the match.
The result also made Rybakina the first player to successfully defend the Ningbo Open singles title, following her win in the 2025 final against Ekaterina Alexandrova. Her record at the tournament now stands at eight wins without a defeat.
The Ningbo crown adds to a season that has already included major titles at the Australian Open and US Open, as well as a tournament victory in Stuttgart. The four titles give Rybakina the tour-leading total for the 2026 season as reported on October 25.
The triumph was also significant because it was her first title since becoming world No. 1 after the US Open. She had experienced a setback at the China Open, where she lost her opening match to Alina Charaeva, ranked 118th at the time, and subsequently missed the Wuhan Open with a foot injury, according to reports ahead of the Ningbo final.
Winning again in Ningbo gives Rybakina a timely boost as the season moves towards its final events. It also strengthens her bid to finish the year as the top-ranked player, though the final year-end ranking will depend on results in the remaining tournaments.
Fernandez entered the final ranked 30th in the world and was seeking another title after winning the Singapore Open in September. The Canadian, a US Open finalist in 2021, had advanced to the Ningbo final with a straight-sets semifinal win over Marie Bouzkova, while Rybakina beat sixth seed Diana Shnaider.
The final proved difficult for Fernandez as Rybakina repeatedly took control of rallies and converted key opportunities. Still, reaching the final continued a productive stretch for the Canadian, who had been looking to claim a second title in as many months.
Reports published after the final said Rybakina was due to play the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo before beginning her title defence at the season-ending WTA Finals, scheduled to start on November 8 in Indian Wells, California. Those events will give her further chances to consolidate her ranking and carry her Ningbo form into the closing weeks of the season.
For now, the Ningbo result adds another milestone to Rybakina’s 2026 campaign: she retained a title, extended her unbeaten run at the event and converted her position as the world’s top-ranked player into another tournament victory.
- Final score: 6-2, 6-2.
- Titles in 2026: four.
- Career WTA Tour singles titles: 15.
- Career record at Ningbo: 8-0.
- Break points saved in the final: four of four, according to Sky Sports.
- Fernandez’s ranking at the time of the final: world No. 30.
