Pan Pacific Open Round-Up: Elena Rybakina only one win away from WTA Finals, defeats in-form Leylah Fernandez
WTAThursday, 23 October 2025 at 09:12
Elena Rybakina is on the verge of securing the eighth and final spot at the WTA FInals in Riyadh after defeating Leylah Fernandez at the Pan Pacific Open on Thursday.
Rybakina faced off with Fernandez who like her had won a title in the past week. Ningbo champion Rybakina defeated Osaka champion Leylah Fernandez - the latter had defeated Maria Sakkari in the round prior. But it was a 6-4, 6-3 success for Rybakina who is one win away from qualifying for the Year End Finals for the third consecutive year. A feat she can achieve at the Pan Pacific Open.
She will now have to defeat Victoria Mboko in order to do it. She picked up the one hour and 28 minute win against Fernandez to increase her winning streak to five, Fernandez had aced their last meeting back in July at the Washington Open winning 6-7(2), 7-6(3), 7-6(3).
Albeit this time she never trailed on the scoreboard and dropped serve just once to level her all-time record against Fernandez to 2-2 and inch closer to Andreeva in the race to the WTA Finals. Andreeva wanted to play this week and was seemingly set to accept a wildcard but visa issues halted her.
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Standing between Rybakina and that spot is a resurgent Victoria Mboko. The second Canadian in a row and a player who dealt Rybakina the blow of beating her in the semi-finals in a part of the tournament where the Kazakh was perhaps expected to take the match by the scruff of the neck.
Also it is a 50th match win of the year, only Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula have reached that. All three were among the first to set their spot in Riyadh and she will hope to be next.
"Today was a very difficult match -- it's always not easy against Leylah, and especially the first match for me here ... I'm pretty happy with the win and looking forward for my next match," Rybakina said afterwards.
"I'm feeling a little bit tired of course, but I'm ready to make a last push. I'm very happy with the last week, and I'm trying to bring everything from last week into here."
Elsewhere on Thursday, Belinda Bencic continues to have success with the Swiss ace seeing off Varvara Gracheva with ease 6-4, 6-3. While top 10 player Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Jaqueline Cristian 6-1, 6-2 to also continue her recent heroics. Wakana Sonobe is the last player up today as she takes on Sofia Kenin and attempts to reach the Quarter-Finals.
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- These guys are either clueless... or covering for Vukov. The cause (Vukov) happens first; the Effect happens second. This is looking very volatile and hurtful. We want the Elena we used to know to return. Shame on WTA for giving-in to Vukov's monthly piles of submissions and applications begging for his return to tennis.
mandoist12-11-2025 - Dementieva is way off-base in her uninformative statements here. Why was this "article" even written? She knows nothing, was not on the tour and, according to her, she did not see nor hear Vukov's actions. She is absolutely wrong saying "no one knows". There were first-hand witnesses of Vukov's behaviors who were deposed in the investigation. What the investigation revealed were/are officially sealed and no one will ever see the findings without a court order. Very few people read the final documents -- at least one of them remained silent but did state they were "stunned" by what they read. Dementieva has no place here. As for Lena, she is extremely and openly bitter toward WTA and this is not likely to end well. Denial is her perogative; but it will not serve her future in a positive way. She already is acting like Vukov. Elena is not the person she used to be; and that is sad.mandoist12-11-2025
- Until WTA and ATP stop acting like he MONOPOLY they are, they are likely to continue to disregard any and all of these proposals. Currently they practice the Art Of Not Listening (okay, in the one meeting last July the Elitist committee members "listened" and agreed to "consider the options"... then did nothing). WTA / ATP continue to 'kick the can down the road' in their obstinance.mandoist11-11-2025
- Not the brightest ball in the can. Period.mandoist10-11-2025
- Sabalenka takes her losses very hard but she absolutely MUST exercise a bit more control over her tongue!Rapunzel10-11-2025
- Chair umpires are more often than not (this season in particular) making what seems like unsatisfactory "discretionary calls". The disconnect between what are WTA/ATP regulations (written in black & white) in their own Rulebook 2025 and actual ENFORCEMENT of said rules is more than obvious. Time to get Chair Ump's on the same page. Discretion is not really working once you consider countless non-calls for destroying racquets, smashing balls at or near people on the playing surfaces, smashing balls violently into the stands, cheating the serving time clock -- and, yes, screaming and shouting ad nauseum even through an opponent's returns [Sabalenka's 'performances' are clearly beyond "hindrance" according to rulebook]. These issues can be easily resolved. However, as we have seen all too often, Pro Tennis has no reasonable 'Checks and Balances'. They are a closed door entity... and that is very likely not a sustainable position to uphold in this century of sport.mandoist10-11-2025
- Sabalenka should have spoken to Elena at the trophy ceremony using these words someone wrote for her social media post. A 'thank you' post which did not include a mention of Rybakina or her team. Even taking into account she is not a bright person, and her borderline sarcasm, Sabalenka is a bad loser who cannot control her reactions and/or negative actions during and after matches.mandoist10-11-2025
- It would be interesting (to me) to know what made WTA change their minds about the Vukov ban and reinstate him in such a short amount of time? Possibly the fact they were tired of having to officially deal with Vukov's bi-weekly applications he submitted for his reinstatement? We'll never see the official charges in the documents; they are legally sealed. But some who have seen the charges were stunned by the findings. So his reinstatement made no sense at all to the inner circle. FWIW: Having attended tourneys since August, I personally witnessed Lena & Vukov sniping and bickering with one another on several occasions. I doubt this chapter is over.mandoist09-11-2025
- Ater years of her ridiculous screaming (which has only increased to the point of unfairness -- aka: "Hinderance") I can no longer justify her actions nor my participation as a viewer. I did watch the Pegula & Anisimova matches out of hope that they win... but without audio. We have never received an explanation as to why Sabalenka is afforded the privilege of, in her ever-lengthening Amazon yells, allowed to scream all the way through an opponent's strike at the ball. How is that not a 'hinderance'?? I won't get started on the pathetic Saudi Sportswashing of pro sports.mandoist08-11-2025
- Iga Swiatek was right. This chair umpire cares more about her looks.MrAndreeva06-11-2025
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