Konta sweating on Singapore place as Kuznetsova lurks

By Martyn Herman

LONDON ( Reuters) - Britain's Johanna Konta faces an anxious 24-hour wait before discovering whether she will make her debut at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Konta, who has rocketed up the rankings this year, attended the draw ceremony for the showpiece season-ender on Friday having reached number eight on the WTA's Road to Singapore list.

Thousands of miles away at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, however, Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova was battling to sneak ahead of her and grab the final place in the eight-player tournament that starts with round-robin action on Sunday.

Kuznetsova beat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-7 (2) 6-4 and if the top seed wins Saturday's final against Russian-born Australian Daria Gavrilova, who defeated German Julia Goerges 7-5 6-1 in the semis, she will deny Konta a dream debut in the tournament. The Briton, however, would stay on as an alternate.

Konta, voted the WTA's most improved player in 2016 after becoming the first British female since 1983 to crack the top 10, arrived in Singapore this week after recovering from a stomach strain.

At Friday's draw, Konta or Kuznetsova were placed in the same group as 2015 winner Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova and French Open champion Garbine Muguruza.

The other group consists of world number one Angelique Kerber, Simona Halep, Madison Keys and Dominika Cibulkova.

American Serena Williams is missing because of injury.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)