Paula Badosa and Karolina Muchova had crushing endings to their Ningbo campaigns after the two stars were forced to retire from their respective semifinal matches.
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After rain delayed the start of the match, the Spanish former world No. 2 and No. 5 seed Daria Kasatkina finally got to the court three hours later.
Early in the first set, the eighth-seeded Spaniard fell down by a break but recovered. Then late in the first set, Badosa started looking like something wasn't right.
And after the Russian claimed a break in the ninth game and served out for the first set 6-4 in the following game, the 26-year-old took a medical timeout. During the intervention, Badosa had her pressure checked. Moments later, she decided to retire from the match.
For the Spaniard - who was diagnosed with a chronic back issue earlier this year and unsure about how long she would be able to remain in pro tennis - it was a heartbreaking end and she left the court looking devastated and dejected.
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Last week, Badosa had to skip the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan due to gastrointestinal illness.
Muchova had the same fate in her Ningbo clash
After Kasatkina progressed into the Ningbo final via a Badosa retirement, the Czech and rising star Mirra Andreeva got to the court for the remaining semifinal.
Right from the start, things didn't look good for Muchova, who suffered back-to-back breaks and lost the opening four games. While the 2023 French Open finalist managed to get one break back in the fifth game, it didn't change much since she lost her serve again in the eighth game when serving to stay in the opener.
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Then, the 28-year-old took a medical timeout. After the treatment, the Czech tennis star continued the match - but after the Russian routinely served out the first game of the second set to go 6-2 1-0 up - the former world No. 8walked up to the net and retired.
Muchova, who returned in June from wrist surgery, missed Wuhan last week because she felt exhausted after a Beijing semifinal appearance earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the Ningbo Open final is now set to be an all-Russian showdown between Kasatkina and Andreeva.
