Tianjin (China): US Open winner Italian Flavia Pennetta is determined to claim the remaining few points she requires to book a spot in the WTA Finals. She lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in China Open last week, but remains undeterred in her target.

Life is good for Pennetta at present, and even her setback in the Chinese capital failed to take the shine off a fairytale few months, which have seen her lift the US Open, reach a career-high No.6 in the rankings and close in on a maiden appearance at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore.

But before she can cross out this final career goal and ride off into the sunset, she must first chalk up those vital final few points. To do this the Italian has accepted a late wildcard for the Tianjin Open, where she will vie with, among others, fellow Singapore hopefuls Agnieszka Radwanska and WTA Rising Star Karolina Pliskova.

Currently occupying the No.8 spot on the Road To Singapore leaderboard, Pennetta is tantalizingly close and can move within touching distance with a deep run this week.

“It’s going to be a good tournament. It’s an International tournament but there are a lot of good players,” Pennetta, the top seed in Tianjin, said to wta.com on Monday.

“Of course to play in Singapore is going to be nice, but I have to keep playing because I’ve not qualified yet.

“For the moment I just want to be focused on this tournament, try my best here and hopefully I will have a chance to reach Singapore.”