Chwalinska advances to Wuhan quarters after stunning Jovic

Wuhan: 16th seed Maja Chwalinska registered the biggest win of her career by ranking, defeating world No. 11 Iva Jovic 6-4, 6-1 in the Wuhan Open round of 16 on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals.

Chwalinska put up a strong performance against the American, winning the match in 1 hour and 49 minutes to set up a quarterfinal meeting with Maria Sakkari. Meanwhile, fifth seed Elina Svitolina ended the dream run of Chinese wild card Guo Hanyu with a commanding 6-1, 6-4 win in 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Chwalinska is making her debut at the Wuhan Open, a WTA 1000 tournament. She battled hard in the first set against Jovic but cruised through the second.

She broke Jovic five times, including twice in the first set, and lost her serve only once. The Pole started the match with a break in the opening game before losing her serve in the next. She then made a decisive break in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and held her serve to win the opening set 6-4 in 57 minutes.

The Pole was far superior in the second set, breaking Jovic to take a 2-1 lead and then again for a 4-1 advantage before breaking her once more to seal the set 6-1 in 47 minutes.

She will now face Sakkari in the quarterfinals. Sakkari defeated Mia Pohankova 6-1, 6-4 in her round-of-16 match.

Meanwhile, Svitolina ended Guo’s impressive run. The Chinese player had reached the round of 16 after defeating 12th seed Sorana Cirstea in the first round and then beating Katie Volynets in the round of 32.

The Ukrainian fifth seed broke the unseeded Guo seven times during the match but also lost her serve three times. Svitolina started with an early break and then secured a double break to lead 3-0. However, Guo pulled one break back before losing her serve again, leaving Svitolina with a 4-1 lead. Svitolina held her serve and then broke Guo to take the opening set in 37 minutes.

The second set was much closer, with Guo earning the first break to lead 3-2. However, she lost her serve in the very next game before the two players exchanged breaks to make it 4-4. Svitolina then held her serve in the ninth game and broke Guo in the next to seal the set in 46 minutes and secure the win.

Svitolina has now reached her third quarterfinal in Wuhan, following her runs in 2014 and 2019.