Friday's Ningbo quarterfinal pits Elena Rybakina against Katarzyna Kawa on hard. Elena Rybakina is 9-1 across recent matches. Katarzyna Kawa is 3-7 across recent matches.

Hold strength tells the story — 70% versus 57.8% on first-serve points in Rybakina's favor. Anything other than a Rybakina win would rank among the bigger surprises of the week.