The race to secure the final spot at the 2025 WTA Finals is hotting up, with the next 24 hours set to decide who will join the seven confirmed participants for the event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
The eighth spot for the year-end tournament will either go to Elena Rybakina or Mirra Andreeva.
Rybakina currently trails Andreeva by 14 points in the Race to the WTA Finals leaderboard, but the 2022 Wimbledon champion has her destiny in her own hands.
Following a tournament win in Ningbo, Rybakina needs to ensure she makes it to the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo to reach a third successive WTA Finals.
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How the race is unfolding for the last WTA Finals spot
The Kazakh, who received an opening-round bye in the Japanese capital, beat Leylah Fernandez 6-4 6-3 on Thursday (October 23), to secure a last-eight spot at the WTA 500 event.
Should Rybakina take care of business against Victoria Mboko on Friday (October 24), she will officially claim the last spot for this year’s WTA Finals, which take place from November 1-8.
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However, a quarter-final loss to Mboko would end Rybakina’s chances of competing at the year-end tournament, and hand Andreeva the last qualifying position.
Andreeva, who has never qualified for the WTA Finals, is currently not competing in Tokyo due to reported VISA complications.
The seven players to have already booked their place in Riyadh are Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys and Jasmine Paolini.
Last year’s tournament saw Gauff claim her first WTA Finals title as she defeated Qinwen Zheng in the final of the event.
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