There's still tennis to be played, but there's not much room to move. As the regular season comes to an end, three players will compete for the final two singles spots at the PIF WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Mira Andreeva, Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina are separated by just 407 points in the WTA tournament standings. One of them will be outside the top eight and designated as Riyadh's first substitute.
All three are in the draw for the China Oaks Ningbo Open, which starts on Monday. Crucially, this event offers 500 points to the winner. Paolini and Rybakina are also scheduled to compete in next week's Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan, the final 500 event on the schedule.
Jessica Pegula defeated Katarina Siniakova in the quarterfinals in Wuhan, coupled with Rybakina's loss to Aryna Sabalenka, Pegula officially advanced. This is her fourth consecutive year-end tournament appearance.
Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova and Madison Keys qualified ahead of Pegula.
Here are the details of the battle for the remaining seats:
who is qualified
No. 7 Mira Andreeva
match points: 4,320
2025 records: 40-15, 2 titles (Dubai, Indian Wells)
Thin people: The teenager looked like a sure thing for Riyadh after winning back-to-back WTA 1000 events and reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but the 18-year-old has experienced some growing pains of late. Her record since Wimbledon is 4-4 and 2-2 in China. Andreeva is the top seed in Ningbo, but the draw is difficult. She could see Emma Raducanu in the first match and seventh-seeded Diana Shnaider or the winner between Karolina Muchova and Marketa Vondrousova in the second match.
In short, if Andreeva wins the title this week, she advances. But the situation will become more complicated next, and Rybakina's results may affect the determination of the final quota. For example, if Rybakina loses in the first round, Andreeva will also advance.
No. 8 Jasmine Paolini
Competition points: 4,131
2025 records: 35-11, 1 time champion (Roma)
Thin people: Paolini narrowed the gap with a winning streak in the semifinals in Wuhan, but ultimately lost to Gauff 6-4, 6-3. As the second seed, she will face Veronika Kudermetova or wild card Zhang Shuai in her first game in Ningbo.
Another semi-final, in which it is possible to ensure advancement as long as Elena Rybakina is not her opponent; the final will guarantee this.
No. 9 Elena Rybakina
Competition points: 3,913
2025 records: 47-19, 1 time champion (Strasbourg)
Thin people: Elena Rybakina was upset by Eva Rice in the third round of the Beijing team and was quietly eliminated in the quarter-finals of Wuhan, losing to Alina Sabalenka 6-3, 6-3. As the third seed this week, she will face the winner of Victoria Mboko and Dayana Yastremska.
At present, Rybakina cannot advance this week. She needs to reach at least the semifinals to gain extra tournament points. If Paolini fails to reach the semi-finals, her title race could move ahead of Paolini, although Rybakina still trails Mila Andreeva.
alternative match
10 Ekaterina Alexandrova
Competition points: 3,158
2025 records: 43-22, 1 time champion (Linz)
Thin people: She is most likely to get the second substitute spot against Ningbo and Tokyo. The 30-year-old Alexandrova made her top 10 debut on Monday, making her the third player to debut in the WTA top 10 after Roberta Vinci (33) and Betty Stoff (31).
No. 11 Clara Towson
Competition points: 2,770
2025 records: 36-21, 1 time champion (Oakland)
Thin people: As the fifth seed, Towson will also face Ningbo Station and Tokyo Station. He will face qualifier Aguila Tomljanovic in the first round of Ningbo Station.
14 Belinda Bencic
Competition points: 2,469
2025 records: 32-16, 1 time champion (Abu Dhabi)
Thin people: With No. 12 Elina Svitolina out for the season and No. 13 Emma Navarro withdrawing, Bencic will be next in line. The 28-year-old mother plans to play the final two weeks of the tournament, starting with the No. 6 seed against Magda Linette. To earn a spot on the bench, Bencic will likely need to reach back-to-back finals and win one of the remaining WTA 500 events.