Ostapenko to face Bencic in first round of Ningbo WTA 500

Latvian tennis player Jelena Ostapenko, ranked 24th in the world, will face Switzerland's top player Belinda Bencic, ranked 14th, in the first round of the Ningbo WTA 500 women's tournament, to be played on Centre Court. Bencic once reached world number four. The winner will meet either Ukraine's Daria Snigur (ranked 40th) or Poland's Katarzyna Kawa (ranked 128th) in the last 16.

Head-to-head

Bencic leads the series 2-1. They last met in January, when Ostapenko lost 3-6, 6-7.

Season form

This year Ostapenko has won 27 matches and lost 21. Bencic's record is 28-14, but she has won just one and lost four since mid-August. Ostapenko is making her Ningbo debut, while Bencic is competing here for a second consecutive year after reaching the quarter-finals last year.

Career achievements

Both players are 29 years old. Ostapenko has won nine WTA titles, including the Stuttgart WTA 500 clay-court final last April. At Grand Slam level she won the 2017 French Open and reached the 2018 Wimbledon semi-final. Bencic has claimed ten significant titles and has reached Grand Slam semi-finals at the 2019 US Open and 2025 Wimbledon.

Other details

In recent years Ostapenko has a poor record against several opponents who have become mothers: 0-5 against Victoria Azarenka, 0-3 against Germany's Tatjana Maria, 0-2 against Japan's Naomi Osaka, 0-1 against Germany's Angelique Kerber and 0-1 against American Taylor Townsend. She is also 0-1 against Bencic and 0-1 against Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova. Temperatures during the match could be around 28 degrees.