Tennis
Swiatek Sets Up All-Polish Wuhan Semifinal With Chwalinska
A 6-4, 6-1 win over Ann Li puts Swiatek into her first Wuhan semifinal and creates a meeting between former junior doubles partners.
Iga Swiatek beat Ann Li 6-4, 6-1 on Friday to reach her first Wuhan Open semifinal, where she will face fellow Pole Maja Chwalinska. The WTA says it will be the first all-Polish semifinal at a tour-level event in the Open Era.
Swiatek needed one hour and 33 minutes to complete the quarterfinal. She saved three break points in the last game of the opening set before pulling away in the second, according to the WTA’s match report.
The result also makes her the only active player to have reached the semifinals at all 10 current WTA 1000 tournaments. She has not dropped a set in Wuhan this week.
Saturday’s semifinal reunites former junior doubles partners. Swiatek and Chwalinska were runners-up together at the 2017 Australian Open girls’ event. Chwalinska advanced by beating Maria Sakkari 6-0, 3-6, 7-5, extending the run covered in TSP’s earlier reporting. Li’s defeat ends a week that included an upset of top seed Aryna Sabalenka.
