Serena Williams withdraws from WTA finals; Konta in line to take WTA Finals spot

Williams, 35, managed to find her elusive 22nd grand slam victory at Wimbledon to equal Steffi Graf’s record, but other than that it has been a patchy season for the American - one which now ends on a low.

The news is a boost for Britain's Jo Konta, however, who could make the WTA Tour Finals in place of the American.

Konta has enjoyed a stellar year and looked set for automatic qualification after her run to the final of the China Open in Beijing last week.

However, an abdominal injury forced her to pull out of the Hong Kong Tennis Open and will keep her out of Moscow this week, allowing Madison Keys and Dominika Cibulkova to book the final two spots after their results in Linz.

Konta is ninth in the race and in the first alternate spot, the occupant of which gets a place in the tournament if any of the eight qualifiers pull out, something that Williams did on Monday.

However, that situation would change if either Suarez Navarro or Kuznetsova - the top two seeds - win in Moscow this week. The Spaniard is 10th in the race and currently occupying the second alternate spot and Kuznetsova is 11th and either one of those would go above Konta with victory.

Having only played eight tournaments this year, Williams recently slipped down the rankings to no.2 in the world, losing the top spot to Angelique Kerber after a sustained period of dominance.

In a video on the WTA website, Williams said of her decision to withdraw from this month’s competition: "It's been a really tough year for me, dealing with these shoulder injuries.

“My doctor insists that I stay home and heal it. I only have wonderful memories of playing in Singapore and I will really miss my fans.

Williams added that she will be "off court for the next several weeks.”

Williams has been forced to withdraw from several tournaments this year, including the Wuhan Open and China Open. After being knocked out of the U.S. Open by Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals, Williams said she would not rush back to competition after battling against injuries.

Speaking to CNN shortly after her defeat in the U.S. Open, Williams said: "I'm tired of playing tournaments unhealthy and taking losses that I would never lose.

"I definitely want to make sure I'm healthy and playing at my best or at least 80% healthy or 70% healthy -- that way I can be able to play at a higher level."