Aryna Sabalenka loses to Ann Li in three sets at the Wuhan WTA 1000
Ann Li needed ten match points to finish off the win, sending the highest-seeded player out of the Wuhan draw on 14 October. Iga Świątek and Maja Chwalińska both advanced the same day.
Sabalenka's exit in Wuhan
Aryna Sabalenka, the Belarusian ranked second in the world, was knocked out of the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan, China, on 14 October by the American Ann Li, 31st in the rankings. The score was 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), and the match lasted 2 hours and 27 minutes. Sabalenka had a bye in the first round, so this was her opening appearance at the tournament. Li needed ten match points to close out the win, and Sabalenka saved nine of them before the decider went to a tie-break that the American took 7-5.
A difficult run since New York
Sabalenka lost the US Open final in mid-September to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, who now tops the rankings, and that defeat also cost Sabalenka the world No. 1 position. Since then she has won only one match in two tournaments, a second-round win over Mexico's Renata Zarazua at Beijing. At Beijing she was eliminated in the third round. Wuhan had been a familiar stage for her, as she had won the tournament three times before. The 28-year-old's exit means a quarter-final meeting with Świątek, which had been on the cards, will not take place.
Polish results on the same day
Iga Świątek beat her compatriot Magdalena Fręch 6-2, 6-1 and will meet the American Ashlyn Krueger in the round of 16. Maja Chwalińska beat the Czech player Marie Bouzková 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 on 14 October. Her next opponent is the American Iva Jovic. Both results kept Polish interest alive in Wuhan after the surprise in the other half of the draw.
