Victoria Mboko defeated Elena Rybakina to reach the Pan Pacific Open semi-finals, clinching her place in the WTA finals for the month.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion defeated 19-year-old Mboko 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to claim her place in the end-of-season competition. She has won two WTA 500 titles this year.
The top eight singles and doubles teams of the year will compete in the WTA Finals on November 1 in Saudi Arabia.
Kazakhstan’s Rybakina had to reach Tokyo’s semifinals at least to defeat Russian 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
“It’s great to qualify and play some more matches, especially against top players,” said Rybakina.
“Last week I was focusing one match at a time, and I knew that advancing will require a long road.”
The first and second alternates for the Finals are Ekaterina Alexandrova, 30, and Andreeva.
At the Ningbo Open in China on Sunday, Rybakina increased her chances of making it to the WTA Finals for the third time in a row.
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Source: BBC
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