British No.1 Johanna Konta has failed to qualify for the prestigious WTA Finals after withdrawing from the Moscow Open due to a left foot injury.
The world No.10 was in a race with France’s Caroline Garcia to claim the last qualifying spot for the Singapore tournament, which features the eight highest ranked players of the year. Konta was required to reached the final in Moscow next week to have a chance of qualifying with Garcia scheduled to play in no tournament.
The withdrawal comes after what has been a torrid end to the season for the Brit. Since the Cincinnati Open, Konta has lost her opening match at four consecutive tournaments. Last week she crashed out 6-1, 6-2, to Monica Niculescu.
In contrast, Garcia has enjoyed a triumphant second half of the year. Breaking into the world’s top-10 for the first time in her career, the French player became the first in history to win back-to-back titles in Wuhan and Beijing. During her 11-match winning streak she has recorded wins over Dominika Cibulkova, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina, Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep.
“Qualifying for the WTA Finals in Singapore means the world to me,” Garcia told wtatennis.com. “I’m very proud to be among the top eight players of the season and I’m looking forward to being part of that incredible player field. To be the first Frenchwoman since Mauresmo in 2006 to qualify for the year-end finals makes it even more special.”
It is the second consecutive year that Konta has missed out on a place at the season-ending championships. In 2016 she was edged out by Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is the current defending champion at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
There has been no comment from Konta herself regarding her latest withdrawal. She is eligible to participate in the WTA Elite Trophy, which occurs a week after Singapore. The round-robin tournament features players ranked 9-19th as well as a wild card entrant. It is unclear as to how serious Konta’s injury is.
The final eight
The field is now set for the Singapore showdown, which has a prize money pool of roughly $7 million. Defending champion Cibulkova has failed to qualify, meaning there will be a new winner in the tournament. Eight different nations will be represented with Venus Williams being the only player to have previously won the title. Williams’ triumph was almost ten years ago in 2008.
Out of those eight players, five will be aiming to become the first player from their country to win the title (Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina, Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Ostapenko).
Confirmed Field @WTAFinalsSG:
– Muguruza
– Halep
– Pliskova
– Svitolina
– Venus
– Wozniacki
– Ostapenko
– Garcia— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 12 October 2017
