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.
RACE TO THE WTA FINALS (after Andreeva’s loss in Ningbo, players qualified in bold):
No. 1: Aryna Sabalenka—9,990 points
No. 2: Iga Swiatek—8,303 points
No. 3: Coco Gauff—6,573 points
No. 4: Amanda Anisimova—5,897 points
No. 5: Jessica Pegula—5,183 points
No. 6: Madison Keys—4,395 points
No. 7: Mirra Andreeva—4,320 points
No. 8: Jasmine Paolini—4,131 points
No. 9: Elena Rybakina—3,913 points