Elena Rybakina put herself in a very good position to reach the WTA Finals, but her Tokyo draw isn't the most ideal and the Kazakh tennis star could face some tricky matchups early on.
By winning last week's WTA 500 tournament in Ningbo, Rybakina improved to 4,305 points in the Race to the WTA Finals. Jasmine Paolini became the seventh player to book a Riyadh ticket, while Mirra Andreeva currently sits at No. 8 with 4,319 points.
For some reason, Andreeva decided not to play this week. That made the job for Rybakina much easier since the Kazakh now only needs to win two matches in Tokyo to surpass the Russian in the race and seal the last WTA Finals spot.
As the second-seeded player, Rybakina has a first-round bye in Tokyo. Then, she could face either last week's Osaka winner Leylah Fernandez or Maria Sakkari. During the summer, the Kazakh lost to Fernandez in the Washington semifinal after stunningly failing to serve out for the match while up by a set.
Should the 2022 Wimbledon champion progress into the Tokyo quarterfinal, she could meet there Victoria Mboko - the reigning Montreal champion who upset her in the Montreal semifinal.
Rybakina hopes to push herself to the final goal this week
After winning her 10th WTA title in Ningbo, the Kazakh noted she still had some job to finish.
"I'd like to congratulate Ekaterina for a great week and great season. It hasn't been an easy year for all of us, a difficult schedule ... thank you so much to my team for always pushing me to be better. The end of the season isn't easy but without you I wouldn't be here. Hopefully, we can push a little more this week (in Tokyo)," the 26-year-old said following her Ningbo triumph.
If Rybakina makes the WTA Finals, she will make her third appearance at the season-ending tournament.
