THE EVE EDITION
AFTERGLOW | MON OCT 5
Monday kept changing the assignment. Stephanie Vaquer turned Raw’s unresolved contenders match into a Money in the Bank triple threat, while Iga Świątek erased a 5–2 second-set deficit in Beijing and Coco Gauff took control after a tense opening set against Sun Xinran.
The day also shifted the LPGA calendar. The LOTTE Championship will move from Oʻahu to Kapalua in 2027, placing a second consecutive Hawaiʻi event directly after the tour’s early-season Asian swing.
Vaquer Turns Lynch–Morgan Chaos Into Money in the Bank Triple Threat
Stephanie Vaquer turned a broken contenders match into a larger championship test in St. Louis, attacking both Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan before demanding a three-way defense of the Women’s World Championship at Money in the Bank. Raw general manager Adam Pearce approved the match after Judgment Day interference helped unravel the main event and Vaquer’s attempted rescue ended with her striking both contenders.
Morgan had survived the Manhandle Slam when Raquel Rodriguez placed her foot on the rope, while Roxanne Perez interrupted Lynch’s climb to the turnbuckles. Vaquer helped remove both women, but Lynch then struck the champion accidentally and Morgan knocked Vaquer down. WWE ruled the match a no-contest before Vaquer called for both challengers. Earlier, Rodriguez and Perez beat Sol Ruca and Lola Vice after Vice’s spinning backfist caught Ruca and Perez folded Vice into a pin, adding fresh tension among three entrants in Saturday’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
Świątek Escapes Vekić as Gauff Pulls Away From Sun in Beijing
Iga Świątek recovered from a set and 5–2 down to beat Donna Vekić 4–6, 7–6(0), 6–2 in Beijing, changing direction more aggressively before sweeping the second-set tiebreak and controlling the decider. The 2023 champion improved to 5–0 against Vekić and moved into the China Open round of 16 against Iva Jovic, who beat Kamilla Rakhimova 6–1, 7–5 after coming back from 5–2 and two set points down in the second set.
Coco Gauff also had to solve a difficult first set. Sixteen-year-old Sun Xinran led 5–4 before a stoppage over flashing LED advertising panels; Gauff held, broke for 6–5 and won nine of the final 10 games for a 7–5, 6–1 victory. She next meets Elise Mertens, a 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 winner over Jeļena Ostapenko. Zheng Qinwen outlasted Marie Bouzková 7–6(3), 4–6, 7–5, while Ann Li and Elina Svitolina advanced. Alina Charaeva followed her upset of Elena Rybakina by beating Sonay Kartal 6–4, 6–1.
LOTTE Championship Moves to Kapalua for 2027
The LOTTE Championship will move from Oʻahu to Maui in 2027, taking the LPGA to the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort for a March 18–21 tournament. The event will retain its $3 million purse and feature 120 players, one week after the new Nanea Cup on Hawaiʻi Island. The pairing creates a two-event Hawaiʻi swing immediately after the tour’s early-season Asian schedule.
Kapalua hosted the PGA Tour’s season-opening event from 1999 through 2025 but did not stage professional golf in 2026 after drought conditions, water restrictions and related agronomic problems. The LPGA last competed at Kapalua in 2008, on the Bay Course. The LOTTE will be its first event on the Plantation Course and its first return to the resort in 19 years.
LAST LIGHT
Beijing rewarded the players who found another answer, St. Louis replaced a single challenger with two, and Kapalua claimed the next chapter of a tournament that has never left Hawaiʻi. Monday ended with three very different stages opening toward what comes next.