Swiatek stunned by Paolini at Wuhan Open. Sabalenka, Gauff advance to semifinals

Iga Swiatek, of Poland reacts during the women's singles match against Emma Navarro, of the United States, in the China Open tennis tournament, at the National Tennis Center, in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

WUHAN, China — Iga Swiatek was knocked out of the Wuhan Open on Friday in a straight-set defeat to Jasmine Paolini — a player the Wimbledon champion had never previously lost against.

Paolini powered her way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the second-ranked Swiatek in a quarterfinal that was over in 65 minutes.

It was the Italian’s first victory over Swiatek in their seventh meeting — with Paolini having previously won only one set — and secured her a semifinal spot against the third-ranked Coco Gauff.

“Finally I won a match,” the seventh-seeded Paolini said. “I’m super happy about my level. Just feels amazing.”

Paolini has a much better record against Gauff, having triumphed over the American in their past three meetings.

Gauff cruised into a second straight semifinal with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Laura Siegemund. She lost to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova in the final four at the China Open last week.

The top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka will face Jessica Pegula in the other semifinal.

Sabalenka extended her winning streak at Wuhan to 20 matches with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Elena Rybakina.

The U.S. Open champion won the WTA 1000-level tournament in 2018, ’19 and again last year on her return to the Chinese city.

Sabalenka broke Rybakina’s serve three times in the one-hour, 25-minute match to advance into the semifinals for the 11th time this season, and then waved and blew kisses to the crowd.

Earlier Friday, Pegula went to a third set for a seventh consecutive match. The sixth seed dropped the first set against Katerina Siniakova before reeling through the next two for a 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory.

Pegula is coming off wins over No. 9 Ekaterina Alexandrova and fellow American Hailey Baptiste, when she needed seven match points to clinch the win.