Elina Svitolina needed just over an hour to dispatch wildcard Guo Hanyu 6-1, 6-4 at the 2026 Wuhan Open, punching her ticket to the quarterfinals as a fifth seed on Thursday.
Svitolina Dispatches Guo in Wuhan Open Meeting
The Ukrainian star grabbed the first break of the match before racing through the first set in without much resistance. Even after the Chinese wild card found her footing in the second set, Svitolina was able to close things out with another break in the final game.
Still, Guo leaves Wuhan with her head held high. Earlier in the draw, she earned her first win over a top 20 opponent, rallying from a set down and a 4-0 deficit against 12th seed Sorana Cîrstea. Ranked well outside the top 200, Guo fought off three match points in their meeting before taking it 1-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5.
Svitolina's Strong Asian Run Continues
The quarterfinal berth extends a strong Asian swing for Svitolina, who reached the China Open quarterfinals last week before falling to eventual champion Zheng Qinwen. That Beijing run included her 29th career WTA 1000 quarterfinal, a personal best she hit while working her way back from an ankle injury.
She'll take on Brit Sonay Kartal on Friday with the hope of advancing even further in Wuhan.
Maja Chwalińska scored one of her biggest wins of the WTA season on Thursday, beating 10th seed Iva Jovic 6-4, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals at the 2026 Wuhan Open.
The straight-sets victory sends the French Open runner-up into her first career quarterfinal at the WTA 1000 level, where she'll face former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari.
Consisten Chwalińska Cruises Past Jovic in Wuhan
To get there, the 16th seed had to keep her errors in check against a strong-hitting Jovic.
Chwalińska finished their match with 17 winners against just 15 unforced errors. The young US star couldn't find that same consistency. Her 31 unforced errors nearly doubled Chwalińska's total and prevented any real momentum from building.
After the two traded holds through the opening set, Chwalińska broke in the ninth game and served it out at 6-4. The second set tilted further in her favor, with five consecutive games sealing a comfortable 6-1 finish.
A Rivalry Decided in the Quarterfinals
Still, the tougher test may lie ahead.
Chwalińska and Sakkari have split their two previous head-to-heads. Sakkari took the first in Rome qualifying last year, but Chwalińska got her back at Roland Garros this season.
Their Wuhan quarterfinal meeting will also serve as that series tiebreak.
Diana Shnaider scored yet another Top 10 victory on the WTA Tour Wednesday, defeating sixth-seeded Karolína Muchová 7-5, 6-3 at the 2026 Wuhan Open.
The 11th-seeded Russian needed nearly two hours to close out the match at Dongfeng Voyah Center Court, never dropping a set as she booked her spot in the quarterfinals.
Shnaider Continues Late-Season Surge in Wuhan
Despite going ace-less on the day, Shnaider controlled the baseline exchanges through her aggressive return game, converting four of eight break-point chances. Muchová, meanwhile, managed just one break across two sets in a loss that will likely damage her WTA Finals bid with the season winding down.
Shnaider credited her coach, Sascha Bajin, and team for keeping her focused during a long week of tennis.
"When I just came here, I was dead mentally," she admitted. "I'm just trying to figure out what type of mindset I want to have on tournaments, off the tournaments, because everyone wants to have success.
Shnaider's consistency has fueled a strong second half of the season for the 22-year-old, who carries a 32-20 record with semifinal runs at Roland Garros, Adelaide, and DC.
With top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula already eliminated, her side of the draw is wide open, giving her one of her best looks at a trophy this year.
She next faces Jelena Ostapenko for a place in the semifinals.
Poland advanced past Belgium in the 2027 Women's World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday, winning 4-3 on penalties after the two-leg Poland vs Belgium playoff finished 3-3 on aggregate.
Barcelona forward Ewa Pajor drove the second-match comeback at Polsat Plus Arena in Gdańsk, netting a pair of goals, including the go-ahead strike in the 116th minute of extra time.
Poland vs Belgium Needs Penalties to Decide Playoffs Tie
Before that, Belgium carried a 1-0 advantage from the first leg. Pajor notched the first goal of Poland's playoff rematch in the 42nd minute off a corner.
After Amy Littel equalized for Belgium early in the second half, Paulina Tomasiak put Poland back ahead with a long-range strike in the 67th. Still, Belgium's Jarne Teulings forced extra time with an equalizer in the 105th minute before Pajor struck again to make it 3-2 on the night.
Goalkeeper Kinga Seweryn then sealed the result with key saves in the shootout, clinching Poland's place in the second round.
The team now faces the Republic of Ireland in the next playoff series, with both legs scheduled between late November and early December. The winner will books their spot at the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil.
Sonay Kartal scored the biggest WTA upset of the 2026 Wuhan Open on Tuesday, taking down ninth seed Belinda Bencic 6-0, 7-5 to reach the third round.
Kartal Comes Back from Injury to Stun Bencic in Wuhan
The 24-year-old British player set the pace early, going 12-for-12 on first-serve points before wrapping up the opener in 27 minutes. After missing six months with a back stress fracture, that first set signaled a commanding return against a former Olympic gold medalist and 2025 Wimbledon semifinalist.
Bencic, ranked No. 12, rallied in the second set and built a 3-1 lead. Despite the shift in momentum, Kartal regrouped, earning the decisive break at five-all before holding serve to seal it.
"I did a lot of things right today, but I still think there's a long way to go," Kartal said."I'm happy to be back, I'm feeling good."
The victory marks Kartal's sixth career win against a Top 20 player — her highest-profile WTA result since toppling Mirra Andreeva in Beijing last year. Sitting at No. 170 after her layoff, she is projected to climb roughly 40 spots.
Up next, Kartal faces 15th seed Jasmine Paolini in the round of 16. The meeting marks their first head-to-head on the WTA tour.
Karolína Muchová came back from a set down to beat Caty McNally 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 in the third round of the 2026 Wuhan Open on Wednesday, extending her tiebreak win streak at the 1000-level tournament.
The nearly three-hour WTA match produced some of the week's closest scores of the Asian swing, with just two total points separating the pair across 35 games.
Muchová Launches Stunning Comeback in 2nd Set
McNally, who earned her main-draw spot through qualifying, found her footing first and grabbed the opening set 6-3. From there, though, Muchová dug in. The Czech sixth seed leveled the match by forcing a second-set tiebreak, then did it again in the third to complete the from-behind rally.
Before Wednesday, the 24-year-old US player had already logged a punishing week in Wuhan.
She topped Lanlana Tararudee in three sets to clinch her qualifying berth, then outlasted Yuliia Starodubtseva in a second-round battle that stretched nearly three hours. Even carrying that workload against the world No. 7, McNally pushed both deciding sets to the wire.
With the win, Muchová's tiebreak record moves to 10-0 on the season, making her the first player this century to win her first 10 tiebreaks in the same season.
She next faces Germany's Diana Shnaider tonight at 11 PM ET.
England's Alessia Russo and Lauren James took turns carving apart Greece's defense at King Power Stadium on Tuesday, combining for four goals in a 5-0 World Cup qualifiers play-off win. After taking the first leg 3-1 on the road in Crete, the Lionesses are now one step closer to punching their ticket to the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil.
Russo, Stanway, and James Pile on for England
Russo needed just three minutes to open the scoring after James threaded her through on goal. Then, the Chelsea FC star took over, curling her own blistering effort into the upper netting in the 16th minute before snapping a volley from just yards out shortly after the half-hour mark.
Between those two finishes, Georgia Stanway rose to connect with a Lauren Hemp delivery to make it 4-0 before halftime.
After the break, England kept pressing. Stanway thought she had a second, but VAR ruled it out for offside. Russo eventually capped the rout in the 75th minute, squeezing her shot past the keeper.
"We were ruthless early on," Russo said afterward. "We were happy with the first game with getting the win but there were some things we wanted to work on which we saw tonight."
With an 8-1 combined scoreline across both World Cup qualifying legs, the Lionesses now face Ukraine in the second playoff round with the winner earning a spot at next summer's tournament in Brazil.
No. 4 Atlanta is keeping the dream alive, sweeping its semifinal series with No. 8 New York to secure a fourth-ever WNBA finals appearance — and its first since 2013.
2026 Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese led the Dream with 22 points on Friday. The statline adds to her 20.7-point, 7.7-rebound postseason average.
“When you speak positive things in your life, it happens,” Reese said. “You manifest big things and big dreams and have those goals and you can do anything you put your mind to.”
Atlanta now faces another hurdle. A scheduling conflict could force the Dream to move its home games with Golden State to the 3,500-seat Gateway Center.
The 17,044-capacity State Farm Arena hosted the team’s three prior playoff clashes. However, it’s now booked with a concert and two Hawks games.
Atlanta has a few days to figure out a solution, as the best-of-seven finals tip off at the Valkyries’ 18,064-seat Chase Center on Friday.
No. 2 Golden State is pacing ahead of schedule, as the Valkyries ousted reigning champion No. 3 Las Vegas 87-77 in overtime on Friday to book a first-ever trip to the WNBA finals.
The Valkyries became the first expansion team to reach the championship in just its second year. And they pulled off a semifinal sweep behind unmatched depth.
“We’re making history,” said guard Veronica Burton. “This is unimaginable, but for us it’s so realistic. It’s what we expected and what we worked toward.”
The result guarantees the league its first debut champion since 2024. However, Golden State faces the similarly scrappy No. 4 Atlanta squad.
The Valkyries earned the WNBA’s top defensive rating this season, while second-place Atlanta posted the highest steal rate with 9.1 per game.
“We’ve all, in one way or fashion, been the underdogs,” said Golden State reserve guard Kaila Charles. “It’s just that mentality of having the chip on our shoulder, understanding that this could be taken away unless you give 110%.”
The WNBA finals tip off on Saturday at 3:30 PM ET (NBC).
No. 2 Golden State is on the brink of WNBA history, as the second-year franchise held off No. 3 Las Vegas 83-81 in last night’s Aces vs Valkyries clash to take a 2-0 playoffs lead — moving within one win of its first trip to the finals.
The Valkyries built a 17-point lead by the third quarter, leaning on a swarming perimeter defense that left the Aces scrambling.
Las Vegas stormed back to grab its first lead since Game 1, before Gabby Williams buried a go-ahead jumper and fed Veronica Burton for a dagger 3-pointer to seal it.
The result underscored the WNBA playoffs series’ emphasis on depth over star power, as Golden State met four-time MVP A’ja Wilson with its tested rotation.
Aces coach Becky Hammon emptied her bench in search of answers, deploying Kalani Brown, Justine Pissott, and two-time champion Dana Evans.
“If we lose, we go home,” Hammon said of her squad’s approach to Game 3. “We know we’re capable of stringing three in a row... No reverse psychology, no nothing. Just go out and get it done.”
The best-of-five series moves to Las Vegas tomorrow, as the Aces host the Valkyries at 9:30 PM ET (NBC Sports).