There’s no rest for the wicked on the WTA Tour, as a number of top players go straight from Wuhan Open to take on the challenge of the Ningbo Open 2025.
At the moment, Aryna Sabalenka is running away with things at the top of the WTA leaderboard for the season. She’s doing alright at the Wuhan Open, too.
But, there will be a more open field by the time the Ningbo Open swings around next week, with no Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, or Coco Gauff involved.
Instead, many are looking to Amanda Anisimova to charge for the title, but there’ll be a whole bunch of challengers preparing for the event looking to take the crown for themselves.
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When is the Ningbo Open?
The Ningbo Open begins on Monday, October 13th with first round matches. There will be qualifying taking place Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th, though. The tournament ends on Sunday, October 19th.
Where is the Ningbo Open taking place?
As you may have guessed, the Ningbo Open is taking place in Ningbo, China. Matches will be played on outdoor hard courts at the Ningbo Tennis Centre.
The official draw for the tournament hasn’t taken place yet, but we should know the schedule for those first round games by end of play on Saturday 11th October.
How to watch the Ningbo Open 2025
Tennis fans in the US can watch all the action from the Ningbo Open via the Tennis Channel.
There’s live coverage of first round matches from 6:30 a.m. through to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, with further highlights shown from 4:00 p.m. ET.
It’s a similar schedule on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, albeit with coverage lasting until 4:00 p.m. and then resuming at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Live coverage on Friday, October 17th runs from 6:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and then highlights will play from 4:30 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. ET.
On Saturday, coverage begins at 3:00 a.m. and ends at 6:00 a.m. before resuming at 2:00 p.m. and running until 11:00 p.m. ET for the semi-finals.
You can watch the Ningbo Open final on Sunday, October 19th from 12:30 p.m. and coverage is expected to run through to 9:30 p.m. ET.
| Date | Round | Time |
| Monday, October 13th | Round one | 06:30-15:30/16:00-20:00 |
| Tuesday, October 14th | Round two | 06:30-16:00/16:30-20:00 |
| Wednesday, October 15th | Round three | 06:30-16:00/16:30-20:00 |
| Thursday, October 16th | Round four | 06:30-16:00/16:30-20:00 |
| Friday, October 17th | Quarter-finals | 06:30-16:30/16:30-23:00 (highlights) |
| Saturday, October 18th | Semi-finals | 03:00-06:00/14:00-23:00 |
| Sunday, October 19th | Final | 12:30-21:30 |
In the UK you can watch the event on Sky Sports Tennis or via the Sky Go app.
Coverage starts at 6:00 a.m. BST Monday-Friday. It then moves to 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and 10:00 a.m. for the final on Sunday.
Which players are taking part?
With the Ningbo Open being a WTA 500 event, it’s not surprising that we’re seeing a number of top players taking part. With places in the WTA Finals still up for grabs, players will be desperate to put in a good showing here.
Big names taking part in the tournament include Amanda Anisimova, Mirra Andreeva, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Belinda Bencic, Emma Navarro, Jasmine Paolini, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Clara Tauson, Diana Shnaider, and Liudmila Samsonova.
Outside the top 20 players, there will also be appearances from Sofia Kenin, Victoria Mboko, and Jelena Ostapenko.
| Player | Current WTA ranking |
| Amanda Anisimova | 4 |
| Mirra Andreeva | 5 |
| Jessica Pegula | 6 |
| Jasmine Paolini | 8 |
| Elena Rybakina | 9 |
| Ekaterina Alexandrova | 11 |
| Clara Tauson | 12 |
| Emma Navarro | 14 |
| Belinda Bencic | 15 |
| Diana Shnaider | 18 |
| Liudmila Samsonova | 20 |
| Karolina Muchova | 22 |
| Victoria Mboko | 24 |
| Jelena Ostapenko | 25 |
| Sofia Kenin | 28 |
| Veronika Kudermetova | 29 |
| Marketa Vondrousova | 36 |
There will be 28 singles players in total, with 20 players currently preparing for the qualifying rounds.
16 doubles teams will participate, with 11 already confirmed. They include pairings like Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Liudmila Samsonova, Laura Siegemund and Sofia Kenin, and Qinwen Zheng and Wang Xiyu. It is thought defending champions Demi Schuurs and Yuan Yue will return, too.
Ningbo Open 2025 prize money
Last season, Daria Kasatkina earned $142,000 for winning the Ningbo Open. She won’t be back this year to defend her crown, but the prize pot has increased, with a total fund of $1,064,510 on offer.
That sees an increase in prize money for the winner, with $164,000 expected for the eventual champion. The winner will also get a crucial 500 WTA points, too.
| Round | Prize money | WTA points |
| Winner | $164,000 | 500 |
| Finalist | $101,000 | 325 |
| Semi-finalists | $59,000 | 195 |
| Quarter-finalists | $31,100 | 108 |
| Round of 16 | $15,825 | 60 |
| Main draw | $11,300 | 1 |
The runner-up will receive $101,000 and 325 points. Semi-finalists will get 195 points and just over $59k for their efforts.
Predictions for Ningbo Open
The team at The Tennis Gazette have put together their predictions for the Ningbo Open 2025.
Matthew Johns: The Ningbo Open has a stacked field for a WTA 500 event, but I am going to go with Jasmine Paolini to come out on top. Paolini has a lot at stake with a place in the WTA Finals on the line and I think she might thrive under that pressure and go all the way.
Lee Clarke: With several top players in action at the event, it promises to be a solid tournament. I’m going to go for Jessica Pegula to emerge victorious. She’s put in the hard yards on the Asian swing and although she will probably come up short in Wuhan, that might not be the case in Ningbo.
George Patten: Quietly going about her business, Ekaterina Alexandrova has just made her way into the top ten this year, making a breakthrough, aged 30. WTA Finals qualification may be out of reach for the Russian, but that might not stop her from picking up a sixth career title at the Ningbo Open.
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