The season is narrowing toward its final stages, but this week brings three 500-level events that could reshape the run-ins to the year-end competitions in Turin and Riyadh.

One of the clearest storylines on the women’s side concerns Elena Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva. Andreeva, currently seventh in the Riyadh chase, has not entered the WTA 500 in Tokyo, creating an opportunity for Rybakina, who sits ninth. Rybakina helped herself on Sunday by winning the title in Ningbo. To move past Andreeva, she must reach the semifinal in Tokyo. As the highest seed she receives a bye and needs only two wins to reach that round. She will open against either Leylah Fernandez or Maria Sakkari, and would then face one of Victoria Mboko, Bianca Andreescu, Katie Boulter, or Eva Lys. Given the way Rybakina looked in Ningbo, she will be favored against any of them. If Rybakina loses before the semis, Andreeva qualifies for Riyadh.

On the men’s side, the world No. 1 returns to the tour a week earlier than his rival Carlos Alcaraz and will play the ATP 500 in Vienna. He won that event two years ago during his rise to No. 1 and had to cut his previous Shanghai appearance short because of cramps. A title in Vienna would move him 500 points closer to Alcaraz with two tournaments remaining. He opens against Daniel Altmaier and could meet Alexander Bublik in the third round. The seeds following him are Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur, Lorenzo Musetti, Karen Khachanov, and Daniil Medvedev.

Zverev sits fourth in the race to Turin but has not yet qualified. De Minaur is seventh and Musetti eighth; both can use points to hold off Felix Auger-Aliassime. Medvedev, currently 12th, has new coach Thomas Johansson and is targeting a strong finish to 2025 after winning his first title in more than two years on Sunday in Almaty.

Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton are fifth and sixth in the race and well positioned for Turin. For Fritz it would be his third trip; for Shelton it would be his first, and he has made it a “big goal” of his season. Fritz will start against Valentin Vacherot. Shelton will try to shake off the left-shoulder injury that forced him out of the US Open and made his Shanghai trip brief.

Leylah Fernandez reached the Japan Open final after a three-set victory over Sorana Cîrstea, prevailing 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. Fernandez recovered from a 3-1 deficit in the deciding set, breaking Cîrstea at 4-4 and then holding serve to close out the match.

The fourth-seeded Canadian advances to her eighth career final. Fernandez is the 2021 U.S. Open runner-up and this season made her only semifinal run at the WTA 500 D.C. Open, where she defeated Anna Kalinskaya in the final for her fourth WTA singles title.

Fernandez will meet 18-year-old qualifier Tereza Valentova in Sunday’s championship match. Valentova, the 2024 Roland Garros junior champion, reached her first WTA final by beating Jaqueline Cristian 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3 in the other semifinal.

Cristian reached the semifinals after receiving a walkover in her quarterfinal when top-seeded Naomi Osaka pulled out with a left leg injury on Friday.

Fernandez’s win over Cîrstea combined a dominant opening set with a resilient finish, responding after dropping the second set and then mounting the comeback in the third. Valentova’s run as a qualifier and former junior champion sets up a contrast in styles and experience for the final, as an established tour veteran faces an 18-year-old making her first WTA title match appearance.

Sunday’s final will pair Fernandez’s tour experience and previous Grand Slam final appearance with Valentova’s breakthrough week at the Japan Open. The stage is set for a final that will decide the tournament champion and extend both players’ seasons in 2025.

Naomi Osaka withdrew from her Japan Open quarterfinal on Friday because of a left leg injury, conceding a walkover and sending Jaqueline Cristian into the semifinals, the WTA Tour said.

Tournament officials said Osaka had not recovered from the problem she sustained late in her second-round match. Before the injury, Osaka had beaten Wakana Sonobe and 2024 champion Suzan Lamens to reach the quarterfinals.

Osaka and Lamens split the opening two sets, and Osaka opened a 5-0 lead in the third set. While Lamens was serving at 0-5 and 30-15, Osaka pulled up with an apparent issue to her left leg. She won that point after Lamens hit a backhand wide but then requested a medical timeout after the next point.

Osaka, a four-time major winner, returned to the court with her left thigh wrapped and restricted movement but was able to close out that match on her third match point. The injury, however, prevented her from taking the court for the quarterfinal.

Cristian advances to the semifinals on a walkover. The tournament result marks Cristian’s third semifinal appearance of the year and her first at a tournament on a surface other than clay.

Osaka’s recent results had included second-round exits at both the China Open in late September and the Wuhan Open last week. The withdrawal at the Japan Open ends her run at this event and leaves questions about her recovery going forward.

The WTA Tour and tournament organizers confirmed the walkover and the sequence of events that left Osaka unable to continue her run in the draw.