Świątek Ends Li’s Run to Set All-Polish Wuhan Semifinal

Ann Li came into her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal with the biggest win of her career already in hand, and for a set on Friday night in Wuhan she made Iga Świątek earn every point. Then the match turned completely. Świątek won 6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour and 33 minutes, taking seven of the last eight games to reach her first semifinal at the Wuhan Open and set up the first all-Polish semifinal at WTA level in the Open Era, against Maja Chwalińska.

The first set decided it. Świątek broke in the opening game, but holding serve was hard labor: one service game ran to 14 points and another to 10, and when she served for the set at 5-4, Li earned three break points. Świątek saved all three and closed out the set after 56 minutes. Li never had another opening. She finished 0 for 3 on break points with 49 unforced errors, while Świątek won 74% of her first-serve points and 60% behind her second serve and broke three more times in the second set.