The race for a qualifying spot at the WTA Finals Singapore took another twist when Johanna Konta withdrew

KONTA WITHDRAWS FROM HONG KONG, PLACES SINGAPORE HOPES IN JEOPARDY

On Thursday the race for a qualifying spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global took another twist when Johanna Konta withdrew from the Hong Kong Tennis Open.

All six contenders entered tournaments this week, and with Cibulkova and Carla Suárez Navarro also scheduled to play next week's Kremlin Cup, in Moscow, for the second year in a row the battle is likely to go down to the wire...

• Cibulkova would need to reach the final in Linz this week to pass Konta

• A semifinal for Cibulkova in Linz would put Konta and Cibulkova in a tie*

• Cibulkova's 16th best result is currently 100 points, so she would need to reach the semifinals at Moscow to add any points to her total

• Suárez Navarro can also pass Konta, but will need to add points in both Linz (where she is through to the quarterfinals) and Moscow

• If Cibulkova loses in Linz and Muguruza can qualify for the WTA Finals by beating Monica Niculescu on Thursday

* When two or more players have the same number of ranking points, the first tie-break is the player with the most combined points from Grand Slams, Premier Mandatory, Premier 5 and WTA Finals (as outlined on pg.215 of the Rule Book). In this regard, Konta (2685) has the edge over Cibulkova (2180)

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