Caroline enters quarter-finals

Beijing : Johanna Konta is still not certain of qualifying for the WTA Finals in Singapore after Caroline Garcia reached the China Open quarter-finals.

France’s Garcia, ranked 15th in the world, saw off Alize Cornet 6-2 6-1 to set up a meeting with Elina Svitolina.

She would need to reach the semi-finals in Beijing to stay in contention for the final qualification place for the eight-player season finale.

Elsewhere, Petra Kvitova beat fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-1 6-4.

Should Garcia win the Beijing title, Konta would need to reach the final of the Kremlin Cup, which begins on 16 October, to qualify for Singapore.

The Briton lost in the first round in Beijing and has withdrawn from next week’s Hong Kong Open with an injury.

Kvitova sealed the final quarter-final place in China with a dominant performance against Wozniacki, who won the title in 2010.

The world number 18 won six consecutive games to take the opening set, before serving consecutive aces to deny Wozniacki two break points.

Kvitova then broke late in the set and served out the match to set up a meeting with Barbora Strycova, who beat Daria Gavrilova 6-0 6-4.

However, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova was stunned by Sorana Cirstea, with the Romanian claiming a 6-1 7-5 victory over the former world number one.

Cirstea powered past the Czech in 83 minutes to claim her first victory over a top-five player in four years.

She will play French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko next after China’s top player Peng Shuai retired with a knee injury at 3-0 down in the first set.