Belinda Bencic's difficult stretch on the WTA tour continued Thursday at the 2026 Ningbo Open, where the Swiss No. 5 seed fell to qualifier Katarzyna Kawa in straight sets. The 7-5, 6-2 second-round loss marks another early exit for the world No. 14, who hasn't strung together consecutive wins since reaching the Toronto quarterfinals in early August.
Bencic Loses Early to Another Qualifier at Ningbo Open
For Kawa, though, the upset was a milestone.
The 33-year-old Polish qualifier, ranked outside the Top 125, picked up her first victory over a Top 20 opponent on the Ningbo hard courts. She also advanced to her first-ever WTA 500 quarterfinal with the win. After trading momentum through a tight opening set, she broke Bencic repeatedly in the second to pull away comfortably.
The timing stings for Bencic. She will likely lose the 500 ranking points she earned from her Tokyo title 12 months ago when the WTA scores update next week. With only 60 points gained in Ningbo, a big drop in the standings is on the way.
Meanwhile, Kawa will look to keep her breakout run going in the quarterfinals. Though she's set to face current world No. 1 Elena Rybakina in the final eight, so she'll need to be even sharper on Friday.
