This latest defeat means that she's now 'out of contention' for the world title. [=there is no longer a chance that she will win the world title]
an issue that is still 'in contention' [=that is still being argued about; that has not yet been decided]
The main point of 'contention' [=the point that is being argued over] is who has the rights to the land.
(..) I was just hoping you might give me some insight into the evolution... of the market economy in the southern colonies. My contention is that, uh, prior to the Revolutionary War... the economic modalities, especially in the southern colonies... could most aptly be characterized as... - agrarian precapitalist. - Let me tell you something. All right? Of course that's your contention. You're a first-year grad student. You just got finished readin' some Marxian historian, Pete Garrison, probably. You're gonna be convinced of that till next month when you get to James Lemon. (..)1997 Good Will Hunting