Daijiworld Media Network - Tokya

Tokyo, Oct 24: Elena Rybakina clinched the eighth and final berth for next month’s WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia after defeating Victoria Mboko 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on Friday to reach the Pan Pacific semi-finals in Tokyo. The 2022 Wimbledon champion, currently ranked world number seven, will make her third consecutive appearance at the season-ending tournament following a strong run that included last week’s Ningbo Open title in China.

“It’s great to qualify and play some more matches, especially against top players,” said the 26-year-old Kazakh player. “Last week I was focusing one match at a time, and I knew that to qualify it was going to take a long road. In the end, everything worked out pretty well.”

Rybakina will face sixth seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in Saturday’s semi-finals. On the other side of the draw, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic will meet American Sofia Kenin, who saved four match points against number three seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in their quarter-final.

Against 19-year-old Mboko, Rybakina made a fast start, winning the first three games to take the opening set. The second set proved tighter, with Rybakina saving a set point before prevailing in the tiebreak. She fired five aces and hit 23 winners to Mboko’s 17.
“It was a very difficult match; I’m really glad I managed to win in two sets,” she said. “The games were tight, but in the tiebreak I served well and played some good points.”

Rybakina had been in a straight battle with Russia’s Mirra Andreeva for the last WTA Finals spot. She will join Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula, and Jasmine Paolini—who secured the seventh spot by reaching last week’s Ningbo semi-finals.

“I’ll try to do well at the Finals for sure, but I’ve played a lot of matches and am a little bit tired,” Rybakina added. “It’s important to manage my body and finish the season healthy.”