Konta’s Finals dream down to one match

SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA is just one match away from knocking Jo Konta out of the eight-woman field for the WTA Finals in Singapore. The British No 1 occupies the last qualifying spot for the year-end finale, which starts tomorrow. But Kuznetsova beat Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 in yesterday’s Kremlin Cup semi-final and if she beats Daria Gavrilova in today’s final she will overtake Konta. The 25-year-old Brit was in Singapore yesterday for the official draw ceremony. Meanwhile, Kyle Edmund can enter the men’s top 40 for the first time after reaching his first ATP Tour semi-final, beating Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4 at the European Open in Antwerp. He plays Richard Gasquet today. Mark Cavendish won the second stage of the abu dhabi Tour in a sprint finish to take the overall lead. ‘it was a very chaotic sprint in which i lost my lead out in the second last corner,’ said the 31-year-old after his 115-km stage win. ‘i thought, “That’s it”, but we got back on.’ Today’s 150km third stage ends with an 11km climb, where the Manxman is expected to lose the race leader’s red jersey. The final stage is tomorrow. ROSS MURDOCH has been dropped from the elite ‘podium’ level of funding in British Swimming’s performance squads for 2017. The 22-year-old Scot claimed 100 metres breaststroke bronze at the 2015 Kazan World Championships but failed to make the Olympic final in Rio. He is no longer on the podium list — which was cut from 21 names to 17 — and is instead in the secondary, 38-athlete ‘podium potential’ squad. Paul McGinley, the 2014 ryder Cup-winning captain has joined the board of the european Tour as a non-executive director. The 49-year-old has been a Tour professional since 1992 and has served on the tournament committee for the past 13 years. WIGAN WARRIORS will play Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, while Warrington Wolves will face Brisbane Broncos in a two-game rugby league World Club Series in February 2017.