The Ningbo Open is a WTA 250 hard-court tennis tournament that takes place in Ningbo, China. It is held at the Ningbo (Yinzhou) Tennis Center each season. In 2023, the Ningbo Open returned as a WTA 250-tier event following an eight-year break between 2014 and 2022.
Originally, the competition was part of the WTA 125K series. Also, an ATP Challenger-level competition took place between 2011 and 2019 before it was discontinued. Since its upgrade to a WTA 250-level competition, the Ningbo Open has expanded to a simultaneous singles and doubles draw.
During the one-week competition, 32-singles players enter the main draw. A 16-team doubles event also takes place. Many top-quality WTA players entered the Ningbo Open’s return in 2023. In the competitive field, big-name players like Ons Jabeur, Petra Kvitova, and Anna Blinkova took part.
However, Tunisian player Jabeur made history and became the first-ever Ningbo Open champion in 2023. On her way to the final, Jabeur defeated some top players, including former WTA top 10 competitor Vera Zvonareva.
After a tough draw, Jabeur eventually defeated Russian opponent Diana Shnaider in straight sets during the final. In the doubles draw, Zvonareva also featured alongside playing partner Laura Siegemund.
Zvonareva achieved greater success in the doubles tournament compared to the singles. The Russian and German duo raced to the final without dropping a set. Then, the pair went one step further to defeat the Chinese doubles team of Jiang Xinyu and Guo Hanyu to win the inaugural Ningbo Open doubles final.
