Elena Rybakina clinched the eighth and final spot in the upcoming WTA Finals by defeating Victoria Mboko 6-3, 7-6(4) in the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open on Friday. The victory ensures the former Wimbledon champion's participation in the season-ending championship, scheduled for November 1-8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Rybakina, the second seed in Tokyo, needed to reach the semifinals to overtake Russia's Mirra Andreeva in the qualification race. She achieved this with a solid performance against the 19-year-old Canadian, overcoming a tightly contested second set that went to a tiebreak. The win continues Rybakina's strong late-season form, following her title victory at the Ningbo Open in China last week.
"It was a very difficult match against Victoria -- the last time, it was the same battle," Rybakina commented after the match. "I'm very happy that today I managed to win in two sets. In the second set, we were going so close, both serving really well, so I'm glad that I could push a little bit more in the tiebreak and win in two sets."
The 26-year-old Kazakh joins Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula, and Jasmine Paolini in the elite field for Riyadh. This marks Rybakina's third consecutive appearance at the prestigious year-end event. "It's great to qualify and play some more matches, especially against top players," Rybakina said regarding her qualification. Mirra Andreeva and Ekaterina Alexandrova were named as the first and second alternates.
Rybakina, set to rise to world number six in the rankings, will now face sixth seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in the Tokyo semifinals on Saturday. WTA Finals Tournament Director Garbine Muguruza spoke of the competitive nature of the season, stating, "This season we have seen eight different champions across WTA 1000 tournaments and the Grand Slams, showing the incredible depth and drama of the WTA Tour, with the perfect curtain-call now ready to take place at the WTA Finals."