Britain's Johanna Konta lost her fifth straight match as she went down 6-1 6-2 to world number 65 Monica Niculescu at the China Open in Beijing.
The 26-year-old, who is ranked 58 places higher than her Romanian opponent, succumbed in just 64 minutes.
Konta has endured a miserable run since making the Wimbledon semi-finals, winning only twice across six events.
She is currently in the eighth and final qualification spot for the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore.
Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki have already secured their places, with French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko a place ahead of Konta.