a previous 0–5 head-to-head record against the Czech. Konta progressed to the semifinal by beating Chinese number one, Zhang Shuai, for the second successive week. She defeated Madison Keys in the last four to reach her first Premier Mandatory final. Victory over Keys saw Konta enter the top ten for the first time in her career, making her the first British woman since Jo Durie in 1984 to be ranked amongst the elite of the WTA. It also lifted her into a qualifying place for the WTA Finals. Konta was beaten in the final by Agnieszka Radwańska. Konta attempted to consolidate her Tour Finals place in Hong Kong, but an abdominal strain forced her to pull out of her second-round match. She slipped outside the qualifying spots when Dominika Cibulková won the tournament in Linz, which secured the last place for the Slovak. However, the subsequent withdrawal of Serena Williams gave Konta another chance. She had already travelled to Singapore to practice, only to be pipped for the final place less than 24 hours before the start of the event when Svetlana Kuznetsova won the title in Moscow. Konta remained at the venue as an alternate, but was unused. If Konta was to have qualified in the Tour Finals, she would become the first British woman since Jo Durie in the 1984 Virginia Slims Championships. Following her eventual absence from the WTA Finals' lineup, Konta entered the WTA Elite Trophy a week later in Zhuhai, China. She was placed in the Azalea Group alongside Sam Stosur and Caroline Garcia. Konta opened with a win over Stosur that guaranteed she would finish the season ranked inside the WTA's top ten, the first Briton to achieve this since 1983. She then beat Garcia to top the group and progress to a semifinal against Elina Svitolina, which Svitolina won to end Konta's season. Konta led the 2016 WTA Tour in points won behind second serve, and sat third for top-ten wins, hardcourt-match wins and tie-breaks won. She also featured in the top ten of a number of other statistical categories. Konta was nominated as one of the WTA's Most Improved Players for the second successive year, winning the award comfortably on this occasion with over 80% of the vote. Her end-of-season ranking was No. 10. After the conclusion of the season, Konta announced that she was parting company with her coaching team of