This is what Rybakina needs to do to secure the last WTA Finals spot

And then there was one.

With Jasmine Paolini's qualification into the WTA Finals field this weekend, seven players have now punched their ticket to the prestigious year-end tournament in Riyadh. Paolini joins Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys in the eight-player field.

That leaves Elena Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva vying for the final spot in the Finals, which kick off on Nov. 1.

We'll find out who that final player will be in the coming days. With 4,319 points, Andreeva currently leads Rybakina (4,305) by a mere 14 points in the Race to the WTA Finals leaderboard.

But Rybakina, who is coming off a massive title in Ningbo this past week, is in control of her own destiny. With Andreeva not in the draw of this week's Toray Pan Pacific Open, Rybakina needs to reach the semifinals in Tokyo to qualify.

If she loses before then, Andreeva will qualify for her first-ever WTA Finals.

Rybakina, who is the top-seeded player in the tournament following Paolini's late withdrawal,  received a first-round bye, and then defeated Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.

Now it all comes down to a match against World No. 23 Victoria Mboko, would beat Bianca Andreescu and Eva Lys in straight sets in her first two matches. The Montreal champion struggled mightily following her breakthrough title in Canada, losing four straight, but has looked strong this week with a pair of straightforward wins. (She was especially dominant in dispatching Lys 6-1, 6-1 in just 53 minutes.)

They've played twice this year already, with Rybakina winning the first matchup in Washington, D.C. and Mboko exacting revenge in the Montreal semifinals two weeks later.

The 26-year-old, currently ranked No. 7 in the PIF WTA Rankings, has qualified for the last two WTA Finals but has yet to get out of the group stage.