THE EVE EDITION
FIRST BLUSH | WED OCT 14
Aryna Sabalenka finally starts her Wuhan week this morning, in a draw that has already lost #2 Jessica Pegula, #8 Marta Kostyuk, #9 Belinda Bencic and three other seeds. The three-time champion, still chasing her first title since March, opens against Ann Li on Center Court. In Scotland, Texas plays the host University of St Andrews for the St Andrews Links Collegiate title on the Old Course after winning the stroke play by 23 shots.
Overnight, Wuhan reaches its third round with #6 Karolína Muchová against #11 Diana Shnaider and #5 Elina Svitolina against wild card Hanyu Guo, and the LPGA Tour opens the Buick LPGA Shanghai on Golf Channel. AEW brings a three-hour Dynamite and Collision special to Cleveland with Mercedes Moné in a trios match, and the WNBA Finals are three days away, with the Atlanta Dream now set to play Games 3 and 4 at State Farm Arena.
#1 Aryna Sabalenka vs. Ann Li
Aryna Sabalenka has won all three of her meetings with Ann Li, and Wuhan has been her best stop in China: she has won the title here three times. The top seed, already qualified for the WTA Finals and second in the race, has not won a tournament since March, and with Gauff, Andreeva and Pegula gone, the path rarely looks clearer. Li, the American ranked #31, beat Camila Osorio when the Colombian retired with a back injury, and she has reached the third round at three straight WTA 1000 events. She has two career wins over top-10 players, one of them this season.
EVE’s Edge: Sabalenka in straight sets. Li can rush opponents with her flat backhand, but Sabalenka’s serve and first strike should decide the important games.
Texas vs. St Andrews
Texas won the stroke play by 23 shots on the Jubilee Course, posting a team score 13 better than anyone else in Tuesday’s wind and rain, and now meets the host University of St Andrews in medal match play on the Old Course for the team title. Farah O’Keefe, the world’s #1 amateur, shared the individual title with Washington’s Hannah Ounap at 2-under, and newcomer Charlotte Naughton was third. It was the seventh win of O’Keefe’s college career. St Andrews reached the final with a strong back nine led by Mattison Frick and Ellie Monk, and Penn and Washington play for third.
EVE’s Edge: Texas takes the title. Five Longhorns finished in the top 10, and that depth should tell across six matches on the Old Course.
#6 Karolína Muchová vs. #11 Diana Shnaider
Karolína Muchová kept her perfect 2026 tiebreak record intact in the second round, coming back from 6-3, 2-0 down against qualifier Caty McNally to win two tiebreaks in two hours, 52 minutes. She sits in the last qualifying place in the race for the WTA Finals, so a quarterfinal would bring Indian Wells closer. Muchová hit 43 winners in that match and improved to 44-11 this season. Diana Shnaider has been sharper so far, beating Katie Boulter 6-3, 6-1 and Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-2 without dropping a set. The winner reaches the quarterfinals.
EVE’s Edge: Muchová in three sets. The left-handed Shnaider will win the early baseline exchanges, but Muchová’s variety and nerve in tight sets have carried her season.
#5 Elina Svitolina vs. Hanyu Guo
Hanyu Guo, a 28-year-old from Zhengzhou who won the Wimbledon doubles title with Kristina Mladenovic this summer and is ranked #240 in singles, has played two of the matches of the week. The wild card saved three match points to beat #12 Sorana Cîrstea from a set and 4-0 down, then beat qualifier Katie Volynets 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), all after a summer in which her father was admitted to intensive care. Elina Svitolina clinched her WTA Finals place by beating Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, and the #5 seed, who had a first-round bye, has never played Guo.
EVE’s Edge: Svitolina in straight sets. Guo’s doubles hands will win points at the net, but Svitolina’s defense should take away the short points Guo needs.
Leylah Fernandez vs. Han Shi
Han Shi came through qualifying ranked #217, then beat #13 Alexandra Eala 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 for her first main-draw win at a WTA 1000 and her first over a top-20 player, hitting 31 winners to Eala’s 20, a week after taking Qinwen Zheng to three sets in Beijing. Leylah Fernandez, the Singapore champion ranked #26, had lost three of four meetings with Ekaterina Alexandrova before beating her 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round. The winner meets Jelena Ostapenko, who saved three match points to beat #2 Jessica Pegula overnight.
EVE’s Edge: Fernandez in straight sets. Shi will have the crowd behind her, but Fernandez’s counterpunching and her form from Singapore should blunt the bold serving that beat Eala.
ELSEWHERE
The rest of Wuhan’s third round follows overnight on Tennis Channel. Wild card Mia Pohánková meets Maria Sakkari at 11:00 PM, #10 Iva Jovic plays #16 Maja Chwalińska at 12:30 AM, #15 Jasmine Paolini faces Sonay Kartal, who beat #9 Belinda Bencic, at 2:00 AM, and Ostapenko returns at 3:00 AM. Iga Świątek, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Magdalena Fręch, plays lucky loser Ashlyn Krueger on Thursday night.
The Buick LPGA Shanghai opens at Sheshan International at 11:00 PM on Golf Channel, with Jeeno Thitikul defending her title in an 81-player field playing for $3.2 million. AEW’s Dynamite and Collision special from the Wolstein Center starts at 8:00 PM on TBS, with Mercedes Moné teaming with Divine Dominion’s Lena Kross and Megan Bayne against Skye Blue, Julia Hart and Thekla, and Britt Baker and Persephone facing Dani Luna and Hyan.