Retour
Another day, another milestone for Iga Swiatek.
The former World No. 1 defeated Ann Li 6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour, 33 minutes on Friday night to reach her first Wuhan semifinal and become the fourth player since 2009, and the only active player, to reach the semifinals at all 10 current WTA 1000 events.
There, she will face compatriot Maja Chwalinska for the first time at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level.
The matchup will mark the second professional meeting between the former junior doubles partners. They first faced off at an ITF event in Stockholm in 2016 when both were 15. Swiatek won 6-2, 6-3, and a few months later the pair finished runner-up in girls' doubles at the 2017 Australian Open.
"It's great that we have two Polish players in the semifinals. I think it means a lot to Polish tennis," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "So hopefully it's going to be a nice match. I'm really happy for Maja. She for sure improved her game this year, so I'll be looking forward to the match."
Ready for an all-Polish semifinal in Wuhan 💪 @iga_swiatek | #dongfengvoyahwuhanopen https://t.co/03geanDGig
— wta (@WTA) October 16, 2026
This will be the first all-Polish semifinal at a WTA-level event in the Open Era, though Magda Linette and Magdalena Frech contested an all-Polish final in Prague in 2024.
It also marks just the second time since the tournament's inception in 2014 that two players from the same country will have met in the Wuhan semifinals for the second time, following Zheng Qinwen and Wang Xinyu in 2024.
After a season-long race, the world's top players converge in the California desert with the WTA's biggest title still to be won.