Aryna Sabalenka's season ended in disappointment as Elina Svitolina beat the former world number one to claim her place in the knockout stage at the WTA Finals.
Sabalenka took her frustration out on her racquet and reacted to losing a point by crouching to the ground at the back of the court as a semi-final place slipped away.
The Belarusian was able to force a deciding set after unravelling in the latter stages of the first, but lost the final six games in slumping to a 6-3 3-6 6-1 loss.
It came two days after the four-time major winner lost each of the last 11 games as she was thrashed by Mirra Andreeva.
Ukraine's 2018 winner Svitolina will meet Czech world number eight Linda Noskova in the last four after finishing runner-up to Mirra Andreeva, who faces Jessica Pegula for a place in Sunday's showpiece.
Svitolina is appearing at the tournament for the first time since backing up her triumph by reaching the 2019 final, having this season returned to the top 10 for the first time since 2021.
"It was an extremely tough match, especially mentally. I was just trying to play one point at a time," said Svitolina, 32.
"This is the tournament where you bring everything to the table and try to play every game as if…
