World number nine Caroline Garcia has withdrawn from this week’s Tianjin Open because of injury. The 23-year-old from France beat new world number one Simona Halep to win the China Open on Sunday.
That took her ahead of Briton Johanna Konta in the Race to Singapore – the top eight players in which compete at the season-ending WTA Finals.
Konta will also sit out the event in Tianjin, so will need to reach the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
But she has lost her first match at her past four tournaments to slip behind Garcia, who is in eighth place.
However, there is the possibility Konta could still make her debut at the season-ending event if a player in the top eight gets injured in the next fortnight.
