THE EVE EDITION
AFTERGLOW | WED OCT 14
Ann Li had Aryna Sabalenka beaten at 5-2 in the third set on Wednesday, and then she had to beat her again and again. Sabalenka saved five match points holding for 5-3, two more breaking back to 5-5 and two in the tiebreak, all on a right leg a trainer had retaped midway through the set. On the 10th, Li hit a forehand winner, and Wuhan lost the player who had won it three times.
It was a day of escapes, and not everyone got out. Jessica Pegula held three match points of her own and could not close any of them, and by sunrise in Wuhan only two top-10 seeds were left in the draw, with the quarterfinals starting tonight and no clear favorite. Away from the upsets, the steadier hands held: a team that never wobbled in the Scottish wind, a challenger who won the first round of her feud in Cleveland, and a 64 without a bogey in Shanghai.
Li Topples Sabalenka on the 10th Match Point
Ann Li beat top seed Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in two hours, 27 minutes, sealing it with a forehand winner on her 10th match point. Sabalenka closed the first set with eight straight points and led 4-2 in the second before Li won nine of the next 11 games. It was Li’s first win over Sabalenka in four meetings and the biggest of her career by ranking. She has now reached the third round at four straight WTA 1000 events, a career best, and Sabalenka, a three-time champion here, will miss the Wuhan semifinals for the first time.
#2 Jessica Pegula went out too, beaten 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 by Jelena Ostapenko after holding three match points in the second-set tiebreak. Ostapenko played through right-arm pain after a medical timeout in the second set. Leylah Fernandez beat qualifier Han Shi 6-3, 6-4, winning the last five games after trailing 4-1 in the second set.
Shnaider Ousts Muchová in Wuhan
Diana Shnaider beat #6 Karolína Muchová 7-5, 6-3 to reach her fourth WTA 1000 quarterfinal without dropping a set all week. It was her third top-10 win of the season, at a tournament where she had never won a match before this year. Her next opponent is Jelena Ostapenko, who beat Leylah Fernandez 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 a round after saving three match points against Pegula, and the two have never played.
Maja Chwalińska beat #10 Iva Jovic 6-4, 6-1 for the biggest win of her career by ranking and meets Maria Sakkari, who beat wild card Mia Pohánková 6-1, 6-4 to reach her first Wuhan quarterfinal in nine years. #5 Elina Svitolina beat wild card Hanyu Guo 6-1, 6-4 and plays Sonay Kartal, who routed #15 Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-0 in 63 minutes.
Texas Wins on the Old Course
Texas beat host St Andrews 5-1 in a final played in strong wind on the Old Course to win the St Andrews Links Collegiate, completing a sweep of the women’s and men’s titles. Farah O’Keefe won by the widest margin, seven strokes over Mattison Frick, and Lauren Kim clinched the title with the fourth Texas point. Mathilda Orring won the only St Andrews point, but reaching the final was itself a first for the Saints.
Penn beat Washington 4-2 for third place behind Adrienne Ahn-Upton’s even-par 72, while Mads Smith and Athena Ni won Washington’s two points. O’Keefe also shared the stroke-play medal with Washington’s Hannah Ounap at 2 under, her seventh college win.
Thekla Strikes First Before WrestleDream
Thekla pinned Lena Kross on Wednesday’s three-hour Dynamite and Collision special in Cleveland, giving Triangle of Madness a win over Mercedes Moné and Divine Dominion three days before Thekla challenges Moné for the AEW Women’s World Championship. The finish turned on Moné’s own belt: Thekla pulled it out of the champion’s hands, and while the referee tried to take it back, Julia Hart sprayed black mist into Kross’s face.
Dani Luna shoved Dr. Britt Baker into her own partner and pinned her to give Luna and Hyan a win over Baker and TBS Champion Persephone, and Queen Aminata cleared the ring when the champion’s side attacked after the bell. Persephone defends against all three at WrestleDream in Orlando.
Choi Opens With 64 in Shanghai
Hye-Jin Choi shot a bogey-free 8-under 64 at Sheshan Golf Club to take a three-stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA’s stop in Shanghai. Starting on the 10th, she reached the turn at 4 under and then birdied four straight holes from the 2nd. Choi has won 12 times on the KLPGA Tour but never on the LPGA Tour, and the last time she opened with a 64, at the 2025 Maybank Championship, she lost a three-way playoff to Miyu Yamashita.
Carlota Ciganda is alone in second after a 67, with Rio Takeda, Grace Kim, Chanettee Wannasaen and Ruoning Yin a shot further back at 4 under. Defending champion Jeeno Thitikul opened with a 69 and sits five behind in a tie for seventh.
LAST LIGHT
Shanghai is the first of six events left on the LPGA schedule, and the stakes reach well past this week’s leaderboard. The top 60 in the Race to the CME Globe after The Annika in November make the $11 million CME Group Tour Championship, and the top 100 keep their cards for 2027.
Tonight, Shnaider and Ostapenko meet for the first time at 11:00 PM with a semifinal place at stake, and Choi starts her second round at the same hour. Thekla gets her shot at Moné on Saturday at WrestleDream in Orlando.