Iga Swiatek reaches quarterfinals in Wuhan debut

In Thursday night’s first match, No. 2-seeded Iga Swiatek became the fifth WTA 1000 champion to advance to the quarterfinals at the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open. In the nightcap, No. 3 Coco Gauff made it six.

Gauff was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Chinese wild card Zhang Shuai, while Swiatek defeated No. 13 Belinda Bencic 7-6 (2), 6-4.

They could meet in the semifinals, but first there is the matter of Friday’s supercharged quarterfinals.

Swiatek meets No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, who came back to defeat No. 10 Clara Tauson 3-6, 6-1, 3-1 via retirement.

Gauff has an unexpected match against unseeded Laura Siegemund, who advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over Magdalena Frech. At 37, and the oldest player left in the draw, the German is looking for her second Top 10 win of the tournament following a second-round upset of No. 5 Mirra Andreeva.

Playing Wuhan for the first time, Swiatek has looked a lot like a six-time Grand Slam champion. The win over Bencic was the 125th WTA 1000 victory of her young career, and Friday will be her 25th WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

Swiatek finished with eight aces and converted four of six break-point opportunities in a match that clocked in at 2 hours and 8 minutes.

“For sure I wanted to play with confidence and make great decisions and not let her dictate,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview after the match. “It was super hard and every game was tough. That’s why it was two sets in over two hours. I’m happy that I was there in the deciding moments to be solid and play one more shot.”

This was Swiatek’s fifth win in six matches against Bencic, but it did not come easily. Since giving birth to daughter Bella in the spring of 2024, the Swiss player has steadily returned to her championship form. She was the winner in Abu Dhabi back in February and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, losing to eventual champion Swiatek.

After dropping the first three games to Swiatek, Bencic came back to win five of six games and found herself serving for the first set at 5-4. Two loose forehands, however, gave Swiatek the equalizing break.

The tiebreak wasn’t competitive. Bencic has made a career of taking the ball early, playing fast and aggressively. But in this instance, Swiatek was sharper. With Bencic serving at 2-4, Swiatek was standing inside the baseline when she sent a first serve back with an eye-opening forehand winner. Winning her third straight point, Swiatek converted her first set point.

In the second set, the two were even at 3-all when Swiatek made her move. A snappy forehand winner, followed by another faulty forehand from Bencic, gave her the decisive break.

wtatennis.com

So we went from this great performance to losing in the quarters 6/1 6/2 to Paolini for the first time. 

Guess this match took a lot out of Iga because she looked like she had nothing left for Poalini the next day. 

Not a surprise though given Iga has once again played the most matches this year (60+ for the 4th year in a row). 

This early loss might be a blessing in disguise, and allow her a bit more rest and preparation for WTA Finals in November.

Hang in there Iga, we're in the home stretch now. 

Go to the WTA Finals and play like you've got nothing to lose. 

Whatever happens it's been a really solid 2025 overall. 

Proud as always.