Polish tennis player Katarzyna Kawa has progressed to the main draw of the WTA 500 tournament in Ningbo, China, after her qualifying final opponent, Ukrainian Daria Snigur, retired from the match. The score at the time of retirement was 6:1, 2:0 in favor of Kawa.
Read More
Kawa started the match by dropping her opening service game but promptly broke back. She then won the remaining games of the first set, finishing it 6:1. Snigur took a medical timeout after the first set but returned to play two additional games, both of which Kawa won. Ultimately, Snigur decided not to continue the match.
Before this match, Kawa held a WTA ranking of No. 127, while Snigur was ranked No. 42 and was the top seed in the qualifying rounds, under the guidance of coach Dawid Celt. With Kawa's victory, she joined fellow Polish players Iga Swiatek and Maja Chwalinska in the Ningbo main draw. Swiatek, seeded second, is scheduled to compete in the second round against either Marie Bouzkova or a qualifier. Chwalinska may also face a qualifier, depending on her decision to participate after the Wuhan tournament.
In related news, Magdalena Frech retired from her qualifying match against Han Shi with the score at 1:0 in the second set, and Kawa's initial opponent, Katie Volynets, similarly withdrew during their match.