Garcia set to pip Konta in final straight

JO KONTA looks set to pay heavily for her Devon Loch-type end to the season by missing out for a second straight time on a place in the prestigious year-end WTA Finals.

A combination of her sudden loss of form and a remarkable surge from Caroline Garcia will now probably see the French player pip Konta for the eighth and last position in the elite field for Singapore at the end of this month.

Garcia won her 11th straight match yesterday in beating new world No 1 Simona Halep 6-4, 7-6 to take the points-rich Beijing Open title. That puts her well ahead of Konta, who has to reach the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow next week to have any chance of securing a spot that, until two weeks ago, had looked comfortably in her grasp.

With Andy Murray injured, the only British player likely to qualify for one of the season-end events is Jamie Murray, who was runner-up at this week’s Japan Open and, with Bruno Soares, ought to make November’s doubles event at London’s O2.

Missing out would be a particular sickener for Konta, as the British No 1 was also ousted late last season from the $7million event in Singapore, on that occasion by a meteoric finish from Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova. The rankings, however, do not lie and Konta could have put herself out of sight had she not embarked on a five-match losing streak, including being upset in the first round of the US Open at the end of August.

Garcia — long tipped by Andy Murray to be a world No 1 — has won back-to-back titles in China. It has still been a highly creditable year for Konta, headlined by the Wimbledon semi-finals and the Miami Open title.

Rafael Nadal looks likely to take the season-end No 1 men’s ranking after winning a disappointing final in Beijing with a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Nick Kyrgios.

The Spaniard has a 2,300-point lead over Roger Federer. Both are playing this week at the Shanghai Masters.