British number one Johanna Konta kept pace in her bid to reach the WTA Finals by advancing through to the third round of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.
Konta is 10th in the Road to Singapore, with only the top eight qualifying, and after Carla Suarez Navarro and Madison Keys, who are placed eighth and ninth respectively, both booked their place in the last 16 in China, Konta followed suit with a 6-3 6-3 win over Shuai Zhang.
And now she has a golden chance to close the gap on Spaniard Suarez Navarro, who is 273 points ahead, as they meet in the next round on Wednesday.
Victory would see Konta gain a minimum of 85 points on her opponent, but with just two more tournaments until Singapore, the 25-year-old realistically has to go deep in Wuhan if she is to become the first Brit since Virginia Wade in 1980 to reach the end-of-season finals.
There was never any doubt about her advancement from the second round as she upset the locals by dumping out the last Chinese player standing.
There were two breaks in the first set amid some flawless hitting as she ran Zhang ragged. A closer tussle looked on the cards in the second set until Konta regained her range and saw the match out.
Source: PA
