Friday 13 October 2017 14:01, UK
Johanna Konta's hopes of qualifying for the WTA Finals are over after she pulled out of next week's Kremlin Cup with an injury to her left foot.
The British number one looked a near certainty to claim the final eighth spot for the showpiece event in Singapore later this month until Caroline Garcia's remarkable run.
The Frenchwoman has taken advantage of Konta's poor form with back-to-back titles at the Wuhan and China Opens, two of the biggest events on the WTA Tour.
Konta could still have overtaken Garcia by reaching the final in Moscow but has not recovered from the foot problem that forced her to pull out of this week's tournament in Hong Kong.
It is the second year in a row that the 26-year-old has narrowly missed out on reaching the WTA Finals.
Twelve months ago, she travelled to Singapore and took part in all the pre-tournament publicity only for Svetlana Kuznetsova to usurp her at the final moment by winning the Kremlin Cup.
Konta, who has lost her last five matches, must now decide whether to accept an alternate place in Singapore, which would see her take the spot of any player forced to pull out.
Garcia joins Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Ostapenko in the field.
Sky Sports Tennis will have all the action from the Shanghai Masters before we head to the Erste Bank Open and Swiss Indoors Basel and then the Paris Masters.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza World Tour Finals at London's O2 in November end another memorable year which will be covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Who will win the World Tour Finals this year? Have your say...
