Elena Rybakina has officially become the eighth and final qualifier for the 2025 WTA Finals, joining Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula, and Jasmine Paolini in the elite season-ending field.
The Kazakh sealed her place in Riyadh by defeating Canada’s Victoria Mboko, 6-3, 7-6 (4), in the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Friday afternoon. Rybakina needed to reach the semifinals of the Tokyo WTA 500 event to secure her qualification; had she fallen short, Mirra Andreeva would have claimed the final berth. Andreeva and Ekaterina Alexandrova will instead serve as first and second alternates.
Currently ranked No. 7 in the world, Rybakina has enjoyed another stellar season, highlighted by a pair of WTA 500 titles — on the clay of Strasbourg just before Roland Garros and on the hard courts of Ningbo last week.
Her consistency has been remarkable: she’s reached six semifinals this year (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Washington D.C., Montreal, Cincinnati, and now Tokyo) and four additional quarterfinals (Doha, Queen’s Club, Berlin, and Wuhan). That’s 12 quarterfinal-or-better finishes, all at the WTA 500 or WTA 1000 level.
At the Grand Slams, Rybakina advanced to the fourth round at the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and the US Open.
The 2025 campaign marks her third consecutive Top-10 finish and third straight WTA Finals appearance, having also qualified in 2023 and 2024 (though she was eliminated in the round-robin stage both times).
Notably, Rybakina likely would have finished inside the Top 10 and qualified in 2022, when she captured her maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, had ranking points been awarded that year.
Before turning her attention to Riyadh, the world No. 7 still has unfinished business in Tokyo. She will face Linda Noskova in Saturday’s semifinals after the Czech advanced past Anna Kalinskaya, who retired with a back injury while trailing 6-0, 1-0.
Rybakina owns a 3-0 career record against Noskova, winning all six sets played between them — at Roland Garros 2023 (6-3, 6-3), Brisbane 2024 (6-3, 6-2), and Wuhan 2025 (6-3, 6-4).
