Mirra Andreeva, Daria Kasatkina advance to Ningbo final after both semifinal opponents retire

Mirra Andreeva and Daria Kasatkina advanced to the final of the WTA 500 Ningbo Open on Saturday after not one, but both players' semifinal opponents retired after they'd lost the first set.

Kasatkina, the No. 5 seed, was leading Paula Badosa 6-4, when the Spaniard pulled the plug on their match, while 17-year-old Andreeva was ahead 6-2, 1-0 against 2023 Roland Garros finalist Karolina Muchova when the Czech shook hands.

Badosa, who withdrew from last week's WTA 1000 in Wuhan citing illness, retired due to diziness, while Muchova, who missed the first six months of 2024 after wrist surgery, stopped with a back injury. The 2023 Roland Garros finalist was contesting her fourth semifinal in just seven tournaments played this year, having been runner-up to Coco Gauff at the WTA 1000 China Open in Beijing earlier this month.

The abridged semifinals were the latest in a rash of withdrawals to hit the WTA 500 event, which saw a staggering seven lucky losers feature in the field. The tournament's expected three top seeds, Jasmine Paolini, Zheng Qinwen and Emma Navarro, all pulled from the field without playing a match. No. 4 seed Barbora Krejcikova, the Wimbledon champion, retired from her quarterfinal match with Andreeva ahead 7-6, 3-2—also with a back injury.

Both players will bid for their second tournament victory of 2024 in Sunday's final, in what will be their first career meeting.

Five of Kasatkina's seven career WTA singles titles to date have come at WTA 500 level, though she's lost six of her last seven finals. Her only victory in that span came on grass in Eastbourne in June. Andreeva, meanwhile, won her first tour-level crown at WTA 250 level in Iasi, Romania in July.