THE EVE EDITION
AFTERGLOW | THU OCT 15
Sonay Kartal had never beaten Elina Svitolina, and for nine games of the third set in Wuhan she could not get a look at her serve. The first break point she earned was match point. She took it, and a player who spent six months away this year with a back injury is two wins from a WTA 1000 title.
It was a day for the players and teams nobody had planned around, from Wuhan to Winston-Salem. Ann Li proved her upset of Aryna Sabalenka was no one-off, Florida State went into Winston-Salem and ended a home run Wake Forest had kept since October 2024, and Illinois, still outside the poll, beat a ranked team for the fourth time this season. The one leader who never got comfortable was Hye-Jin Choi, who shot 74 on a punishing course in Shanghai and still kept her lead.
Kartal Stuns Svitolina to Reach the Wuhan Semifinals
Sonay Kartal beat #5 Elina Svitolina 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in two hours and three minutes to reach her first WTA 1000 semifinal, breaking for the match in the 10th game of the decider. Svitolina had won every previous meeting, most recently in Auckland in January. The win is Kartal’s second over a top-10 player and comes in only her third tournament back from a back injury that kept her out for six months, making her the third-lowest-ranked WTA 1000 semifinalist since 2009.
Ostapenko reached the semifinal by beating #11 Diana Shnaider 7-6(6), 6-1. Shnaider broke for 5-2 and held two set points, but Ostapenko saved both, won the tiebreak and ran away with the second set, finishing with 32 winners. #16 Maja Chwalińska beat Maria Sakkari 6-0, 3-6, 7-5 for her third tour-level semifinal and waits for the winner of Ann Li and #7 Iga Świątek.
Li Backs Up Her Upset With a First Quarterfinal
A day after beating top seed Aryna Sabalenka, Ann Li reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal with a 6-1, 7-6(1) win over Janice Tjen. Li hit 11 aces, held all 10 of her service games and saved all six break points she faced, and when Tjen raised her level to force a tiebreak, Li gave her one point in it.
#7 Iga Świątek beat lucky loser Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-4 for her 150th win at WTA 1000 level, reached in 187 matches, the fewest of the seven players to get there since 2009. It was her seventh WTA 1000 quarterfinal of 2026, the most on tour, and it sets up a rematch of Madrid, where Li won when Świątek retired.
Schio Wins in Istanbul on Opening Night
Beretta Famila Schio opened its EuroLeague Women season by beating last season’s runner-up, Galatasaray, 84-66 in Istanbul. Galatasaray cut an eight-point halftime deficit to 51-50 with a 13-3 run, and Kitija Laksa answered with nine straight points on her way to 18 in her first game of the season. Schio forced 22 turnovers, made 14 steals and shot 9 of 19 from three to Galatasaray’s 2 of 14.
Mariam Coulibaly added 14 points and Maria Conde 12. Awak Kuier led Galatasaray with 16, and the hosts played without Dorka Juhász, Janelle Salaün and Marine Fauthoux. Schio hosts Crvena Zvezda next Thursday in Group B.
Florida State Ends Wake Forest’s Home Run
#24 Florida State beat #4 Wake Forest 2-0 at Spry Stadium, handing the Demon Deacons their first home loss since October 2024 and ending a 20-0-3 unbeaten run in Winston-Salem. Ashley Henderson headed in the opener with two seconds left in the first half, off a corner sequence from Lara Dantas in her season debut, and Wrianna Hudson added her team-leading fifth goal in the 83rd minute. Kate Ockene made four saves for her fourth shutout as the Seminoles stretched their unbeaten run to six.
#1 North Carolina won 1-0 at Clemson on Hope Munson’s 37th-minute goal and visits Wake Forest on Sunday. #2 Vanderbilt scored three times in under six minutes to beat Florida 3-0 before a record crowd of 1,880, and #8 Alabama beat Georgia 3-0 ahead of Sunday’s meeting with the Commodores. #6 South Carolina drew 0-0 at Texas A&M, and #17 Notre Dame beat Pitt 4-1.
Illinois Takes Down Michigan State
Illinois beat #22 Michigan State 25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22 at Huff Hall for its fourth ranked win of the season, its most since 2019, and all four of its Big Ten wins have come against ranked teams. The Illini outhit the Spartans .261 to .215, with Madi Miles leading at 15 kills, Paityn Chapman adding 13 kills and five blocks, and Kenna Phelan running the offense with 49 assists. Alanna Bankston’s career-high 20 kills were not enough, and Illinois has now beaten Michigan State 10 straight times.
#1 Nebraska swept Northwestern in Evanston before 5,329 to move to 18-0 and extend its regular-season winning streak to 49. #8 Arizona State beat Arizona in four before 7,190 for JJ Van Niel’s 100th win, #14 BYU hit .412 in a sweep at Utah for its 11th straight win, and #13 Purdue swept Iowa ahead of Saturday’s trip to Lincoln.
Apex Takes the Six-Woman Tag in Dothan
Shayna Baszler choked out Harley Hudson to win Thursday’s six-woman tag on TNA iMPACT in Dothan, Alabama, moments after Zoey Serrano’s superkick sent Hudson into her. Baszler, Serrano and Xia Brookside beat Knockouts World Champion Indi Hartwell, Gabby Forza and Hudson, and the only stretch the champions lost control came when Forza hit a double German suplex on both members of Apex, the Knockouts World Tag Team Champions.
No Knockouts title match was announced for next week. TNA confirmed that Tasha Steelz is out with a knee injury suffered at Bound for Glory.
Choi Keeps the Lead at Sheshan
Hye-Jin Choi shot a 2-over 74 in the second round in Shanghai and still leads at 6-under 138, two shots clear of Amy Yang and Grace Kim. She missed only one fairway and three greens but needed 38 putts, making two birdies against four bogeys on a firm course where only a handful of players broke par.
Erika Hara, Rio Takeda and Carlota Ciganda share fourth at 3 under, and defending champion Jeeno Thitikul is four back after a 73. Esther Henseleit’s 69 was among the best rounds of the day, and Minji Kang and Natthakritta Vongtaveelap both made holes-in-one.
LAST LIGHT
Wuhan is the last WTA 1000 event of the season, and Karolína Muchová, who held the final qualifying place for the WTA Finals, is already out. Every round Świątek wins this week changes that race.
Li and Świątek meet at 7:00 AM. Tonight #1 Ohio State opens a series at #3 Minnesota, England visit Canada at BMO Field a month after the 26-26 draw that ended their 39-match winning streak, and Choi starts her third round at 11:00 PM.