Three players—Mirra Andreeva, Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina—are battling it out in Ningbo for the last two spots in the WTA Finals this week, but for one of them, that battle just got off to a rocky start.
Andreeva lost her opening match at the WTA 500 event Wednesday night, winning the first set but falling to China’s Zhu Lin, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Zhu’s victory over the No. 6-ranked Andreeva was the third Top 10 win of her career, her first two coming in 2023, against a No. 6-ranked Maria Sakkari at the Australian Open, and a No. 7-ranked Caroline Garcia in Cleveland.
Andreeva’s hopes of qualifying for the WTA Finals this week aren’t dashed yet, though—in fact, she can actually qualify tomorrow.
If Rybakina loses her opening match in Ningbo on Thursday, Andreeva will punch her ticket to Riyadh. And given that Rybakina faces Dayana Yastremska, a former Australian Open semifinalist with five career wins over Top 10 players, that’s not out of the realm of possibility.
Rybakina herself can’t actually qualify this week, but Paolini can, should she reach the final, or if she reaches the semifinals and Rybakina doesn’t.