Elise Mertens vs Leylah Fernandez — Round of 32 — Ningbo Open. Fernandez won 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Leylah Fernandez beat seventh seed Elise Mertens in the Ningbo Open round of 32. She won the final four games after Mertens served for the match at 5-3 in the third set. The betting market favored Mertens, who was ranked WTA No. 14 to Fernandez's No. 25. The pair had split their two meetings on record. Neither player held serve consistently in a match that lasted 2 hours and 48 minutes. Each held only seven of 14 service games, and they combined for 17 double faults, with 10 of them from Fernandez. Mertens broke three times in the opening set and won it 6-2. In the second set, the players traded breaks until 3-3. Fernandez then broke again in game 8 for a 5-3 lead. She converted all three of her break points in that set. The third set followed the same pattern. After an early exchange of breaks, Mertens broke in game 8 to lead 5-3. Fernandez broke back immediately and broke again in game 11 for 6-5 before closing out the match. Mertens never reached match point. Fernandez finished with more winners than Mertens, 27 to 20, and more unforced errors, 40 to 31. The total points were nearly even, with Fernandez winning 96 and Mertens 93. Fernandez advances to the round of 16.