Third meeting between the duo in 2025.
Still fighting for a spot in the season-ending WTA Finals, Elena Rybakina begins her quest for a second title in 2025 at the WTA Ningbo Open. The 26-year-old is set to face Dayana Yastremska in a hard-hitting slugfest on Thursday. The winner of this match will face either Ajla Tomljanovic or Zeynep Sonmez in the quarterfinal stage. Follow The Playoffs News and BetMGM to get all the updates on this week’s tennis tournaments.
In her most recent event, Elena Rybakina reached the quarterfinals at Wuhan. The World No. 9 has won a solitary title in 2025 – at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. The former Wimbledon champion also reached semifinals at Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Washington DC, Montreal and Cincinnati. In spite of possessing an impressive 47-19 record this year, Rybakina failed to cross the Round of 16 at any of the Grand Slams. The 26-year-old has won 74% points on her first serve throughout the season, and backs it up with a 42% break point conversion rate.
Elena Rybakina visited the ancient village of Zoumatang ahead of the Ningbo Open.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 14, 2025
🇨🇳🩷🐠 pic.twitter.com/YO24Jcqfng
In the Round of 32, Dayana Yastremska overpowered Canadian Open champion Victoria Mboko in straight sets. The Ukrainian has notched impressive victories over the likes of Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro earlier this year too. With a career-high ranking of No. 21 in the world, Yastremska will be hoping to rise from her World No. 30 status and enter the Top-20 soon. The 25-year-old’s best performances in 2025 include runner-up finishes at Linz and Nottingham. Yastremska has a success ratio of 62% so far.
Magnificent 🪄
— wta (@WTA) October 14, 2025
Dayana Yastremska | #NingboOpen pic.twitter.com/MYuhcHRe3F
Elena Rybakina has a dominant head-to-head record of 2-0 against Dayana Yastremska.
Rybakina and Yastremska have faced each other twice in 2025. At the Australian Open, the Kazakh powerhouse played a steady game to emerge victorious in straight sets. The return fixture in Montreal was not as simple – Rybakina had to dig deep and come back from a set down to advance.
| Event | Round | Winner | Score |
| 2025 Montreal | Round of 16 | Elena Rybakina | 5-7 6-2 7-5 |
| 2025 Australian Open | Round of 32 | Elena Rybakina | 6-3 6-4 |
| Elena Rybakina | Category | Dayana Yastremska |
| 9 | Current Ranking | 30 |
| 378-162 | Career W-L Record | 266-191 |
| 47-19 | YTD W-L Record | 32-20 |
| 9 | Career Titles | 3 |
| 1 | YTD Titles | 0 |
| 1 | Grand Slams | 0 |
The Ningbo Open is a competition where players can trust the bounce and hit through the line. Rybakina is someone who thrives when she has time on the ball. As a result, Yastremska will have to keep the No. 3 seed on her toes by taking the ball early and mixing her game up. When two players who love dictating play from the baseline come face-to-face, there is very little margin for error. We believe Rybakina’s power and experience will prevail in the crucial moments.
Prediction: Elena Rybakina in three sets.
Rybakina (1/7) is a strong favorite over Yastremska (9/2) in the WTA Ningbo Open 2025 Round of 16. According to the implied probability on the money line, the Kazakh superstar has a 79% chance of winning this encounter. Given below are the important odds for this contest (as per BetMGM):
(According to BetMGM: BetMGM offers exclusive promo codes, bonus deals and accurate odds for users upon signing up. Use BetMGM to ace your betting game in all sports!)
Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images
A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.
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