World Number Four Secures Final in Ningbo Debut
Diana Shnaider of Russia failed to recreate a defeat like she had earlier in the year against World Number 10 and fellow countrywoman, Ekaterina Alexandrova, in the Ningbo Open semi-finals in China today. Alexandrova, the older of the two Russians, handled her opponent’s booming shots with level-headed ease to win the match in straight sets. This win comes after she dealt with American McCartney Kessler 6-3, 6-3 in the previous round, and it’s the same score she handed out to her R16 match, Yue Yuan of China. Shnaider is a formidable force; however, she could not quite overcome her frustrations today. Alexandrova wasted no time to win, and by extension, even out the two’s head-to-head record to one-one.
Game Styles Compared
Shnaider has come a long way in the tour and seen many successes since, especially from her singular season in D1 collegiate tennis. After many continuous improvements, she’s managed to whittle down her explosive, unrestrained, and often impatient style of tennis to something a little more dignified, less destructive, and more self-serving. Her movement has also improved, but not to the same extent as her consistency and patience. Still, her progress has made her game much more challenging to deal with. Instead of a misfiring tank that she doesn’t hold the controls to, there’s now agility that has her accessing more of the court, all so she can inflict her lefty brutality.
Alexandrova, on the other hand, is dangerous in her own right, especially given her hard-fought and lengthy experience on tour. She, too, is a powerful ball striker who loves to go for an angle and a blinding winner— but in this match, she chose to do so whenever she sensibly could. A great help for her, as she’s not necessarily known to be a champion of consistency, herself either. Her mobility is far superior to her opponent’s; she’s not just quick, but shows impressive anticipation as well.
How Alexandrova Held Her Lead & Won
Despite having comparable winner stats, Shanider, with 17, and her competitor, with 20, the younger Russian never got a chance to sniff at being ahead in the match, not for a second. Unfortunately for the lefty, having 40 unforced errors on top of an unsupportive service and only breaking your opponent twice, really is not a game that could bring anyone ahead at any point. Shnaider traditionally wields her service in a manner that leaves many unable to do much against her, but today, Alexandrova loves power just as much as her countrywoman does, and today was her day in understanding it well. Shnaider’s massive serves, in the beginning, were returned without a sweat, some coming back actually faster than they came, and angled wickedly, leaving her without response. This certainly dampened Shnaider’s confidence; her first serve accuracy dropped to 64%, and of those points played, she only won 52%.
Alexandrova played a solid attacking game on an already difficult serve, and it paid her well. She kept things tight on her own serve, as well, doing her own due diligence to herself and leaving it up to her opponent to work for any points she wanted. Shnaider couldn’t rise to meet the standards set, and Alexandrova had a lovely time for most of her service games; a first serve consistency rate of 67% and she won 63% of those points played. Most of the match’s points were already in her pocket at this point, and still, she was relentless, breaking Shnaider four times, while only getting her own serve broken twice. Adding all of that, she had 20 winners and 31 unforced errors, and all her movement and energy, even while being ahead throughout the match.
Shnaider was down 1-5 in the first set and had to battle to still lose it at 3-6, truly. That’s energy that is, sad to say, wasted, energy that could and would definitely be useful later in the match. She changed her strategy in the second, or perhaps, only just applied it, slowing down her shots a bit, and leaving the angles alone; playing through the middle for consistency. The smartest thing to do when everything with one’s groundstrokes is going wrong. Reset and evaluate before slowly adding back up. Even with this effort, she could not flip it. Yes, she succeeded in having longer rallies, and Alexandrova’s free point bazaar became less frequent. Still, tiredness takes a toll, and Alexandrova hadn’t been working hard and coming from behind like her countrywoman, who was already more heavy-footed by now.
Hard-fought, Alexandrova triumphed 6-3, 6-4, and booked herself a place in the finals. This is her debut at the Ningbo Open, and she’ll have the chance to have a perfect tournament if she defeats her opponent tomorrow. World Number Nine and 2022 Wimbledon Champion, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, lies waiting for her to battle, after defeating Italian and World Number Eight, Jasmine Paolini, in the other semi-final. Alexandrova is the favorite, as she holds the lead of the two’s head-to-head at three-one, all the defeats in straight sets.
