“It’s something that’s obviously in my head,” said Italian tennis star Jasmine Paolini. She is on a mission this week as she eyes a spot in next month’s WTA Finals in Riyadh. The 29-year-old, two-time slam finalist has been in stellar form lately, and the Ningbo Open is proof. Despite the pressure of qualification, Paolini is simply delivering on the court. On Friday, she snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in a nearly four-hour clash against a formidable rival. In doing so, the Italian has also left a close contender’s spot for Riyadh in jeopardy.

Fans witnessed a 3-hour-22-minute masterclass from Paolini and her Swiss rival Belinda Bencic, who was in no mood to give up easily. In the quarterfinal round of the WTA 500 event, Bencic took the initial lead in the first set. At one point, the Italian was on the brink of losing when Bencic was serving for the match in the second set, leading 5-4. But Paolini came back strongly and pushed the result into a decider. Then, in the last set, things heated up as both players fought tooth and nail. Bencic was even forced to take a medical timeout while trailing 3-4, due to an issue in her right leg.

It was Paolini in the end, however, who didn’t waver in her focus. She survived this marathon encounter with a final scoreline of 5-7, 7-5, 6-3. Undoubtedly, this win means a lot to the world No.8. During the post-match interview, she confessed that it was “One of the toughest I ever played, honestly,” as reported by the WTA’s website on October 17. Giving full credit to her strong opponent, she added, “Belinda, she’s an amazing player and a very good person. Today she deserved to win as well, so it was really tough.”

Overall, she was extremely “happy I stayed there, because at the beginning I had too many mistakes. I couldn’t find my best tennis, but then I just tried to stay there every point and turn the match somehow.”

With the latest victory, she has also boosted her chances of the WTA Finals. Prior to this match, she was trailing her close competitor on the list and teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva. In the live rankings list, the latter was sitting in the seventh spot while Paolini stood at eighth. However, Paolini has now surpassed Andreeva, snatching the seventh spot from her.

The Russian WTA pro had an opportunity to strengthen her position in Ningbo. But she lost her first match against China’s Zhu Lin. This defeat left a gap for the Italian to overtake her. And now she has managed to do exactly that.

WTA Finals qualification scenario for Jasmine Paolini

With Mirra Andreeva coming down to the eighth place in live rankings, it has opened the gates for Jasmine Paolini to qualify for the WTA Finals sooner than later. There are various scenarios under which she can confirm her spot directly among the top 8 participants in Riyadh next month.

In case anyone missed keeping track, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina is also in the race. She is ninth in the live rankings. The former world no.3 is set to play her QF match on Friday against Ajla Tomljanović.

Now, if Rybakina loses against Tomljanović, Paolini and Andreeva will both qualify for the WTA Finals. However, if the Kazakh tennis star wins and goes into the semis, then the result will depend on her battle with none other than Paolini.

If Paolini beats Rybakina in the semis, she gets to qualify. But if the latter snatches the victory, the overall equation will become interesting. In that case, the final clarity will come at the upcoming Toray Pan Pacific Open. The WTA 500 event will take place later this month in Tokyo. Going into that campaign, technically, Paolini and Rybakina will be almost qualified, leaving Andreeva out of the race.

It will be intriguing to see what happens this week in Ningbo. However, Paolini will try to keep her own winning momentum going to straight-up confirm her spot.