Guo Hanyu advances as Ningbo Open begins

Guo Hanyu serves during her match. [Photo/Yongpai app]

Wimbledon doubles champion Guo Hanyu made a winning start at the 2026 Ningbo Open on Oct 19, teaming up with France's Kristina Mladenovic to reach the women's doubles second round with a 6-1, 6-1 victory.

The third-seeded pair dominated their opening match against Shuko Aoyama and Liang Enshuo, taking control at the net and on return. Guo and Mladenovic won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon in July, earning Guo her first Grand Slam doubles crown. They have also secured qualification for the season-ending WTA Finals.

"Our goal is not just to get through the final tournaments of the year," Guo said. "We want to keep improving every day and deliver more great performances."

The main draw began Monday at the Ningbo (Yinzhou) Tennis Center, with Chinese players competing in both singles and doubles. Local favorite Shi Han, a graduate of Yinzhou High School, fell 6-3, 6-2 to eighth seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the women's singles first round.

Shi said she had opportunities to narrow the gap in the opening set but was unable to capitalize on key points as Cirstea stepped up her aggressive play.

China's wild-card pairing of Qu Yihan and Shao Yushan lost 6-1, 6-1 to Australia's Ellen Perez and the Netherlands' Demi Schuurs in another women's doubles first-round match.

Elsewhere, Canada's Leylah Fernandez fought back from a set down to defeat seventh seed Elise Mertens of Belgium 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a match lasting two hours and 49 minutes.

The Ningbo Open runs through Oct 25, with more Chinese players set to compete in the coming days.