Elena Rybakina admits she would like to earn a WTA Finals berth but also acknowledges she is not in the easiest of positions to do so.
Heading into this week, six players qualified for the season-ending tournament in Riyadh, while Rybakina, Mirra Andreeva and Jasmine Paolini are fighting for two of the last three spots.
On Friday, Rybakina defeated Ajla Tomljanovic to reach the semifinal of the WTA 500 tournament in Ningbo. In Live WTA Race, the Kazakh sits at No. 9 with 4,000 ranking points collected in 2025. Paolini sits at No. 7 with 4,325 points while Andreeva - who exited Ningbo in the round-of-16 - has 4,320.
Evidently, Rybakina is in the toughest position. But today, she plays against Paolini in the Ningbo final - in a match where she will have a chance to beat a direct rival in the fight for a WTA Finals place. After Ningbo, the 2022 Wimbledon champion is also slated to compete at next week's 500-level tournament in Tokyo.
Rybakina: I'd like to qualify but I still need to win a lot of matches
"I wont say its pressure. Of course it would be nice to qualify. But I know for this I still need to win a lot of matches. Not only here, but also next week (in Tokyo). I just try to finish the season as best as possible. Most important is to stay healthy. The season has been very long. Not that successful for me. But I still think its been pretty decent. Just important to stay healthy and be ready for the next one," the Kazakh explained.
Because the WTA didn't count Wimbledon points in 2022, Rybakina didn't get a chance to make her WTA Finals debut that year. However, the Kazakh did so in 2023 and she also participated at the season-ending tournament last year - exiting the event in the group stage on both occasions.
