Cristina Bucsa vs Polina Kudermetova — Round of 32 — Ningbo Open. Kudermetova won 7-6, 6-2.

Qualifier Polina Kudermetova, ranked 102nd, reached the round of 16 at the Ningbo Open by beating wild card Cristina Bucsa in straight sets. Bucsa came in ranked 38th, though the betting market had the match close to even, favoring her at 51%. Kudermetova needed 82 minutes, and her next opponent is WTA No. 1 Elena Rybakina. Bucsa was ahead for most of the first set. She broke in game 3 to lead 2-1 and kept that advantage until Kudermetova broke back for 4-4. Bucsa broke again straight away for 5-4, but Kudermetova broke in the next game to level at 5-5. Two set points went unconverted in the opener, which Kudermetova took in a tiebreak, 7-6(5). The second set was more one-sided. Kudermetova broke in the opening game and again for a 4-1 lead. She won 91% of her first-serve points in that set and did not face a break point. Bucsa saved one match point but made 11 unforced errors and five double faults in the set, against one unforced error and no double faults from Kudermetova. Over the match, the clearest gap came on second serve. Kudermetova won 59% of her second-serve points, while Bucsa won 38%. Bucsa also finished with nine double faults to Kudermetova's five.