Tuesday's action at the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open brought contrasting fortunes for the tournament's top contenders. Mirra Andreeva suffered a biggest upset of the day, getting defeated by Laura Siegemund and being the highest seed falling from the tournament so far. On the other side, Iga Swiatek delivered a dominant performance over Marie Bouzkova. The day was also marred by further retirements as extreme conditions in Asia continue to take their toll on players, with both Emma Raducanu and Jelena Ostapenko forced to withdraw from their matches.
Siegemund stuns Andreeva in marathon battle
In the day's longest and most dramatic encounter, 37-year-old Laura Siegemund pulled off a major upset, defeating fifth seed Mirra Andreeva 7-6(4) 3-6 6-3 in a grueling three-hour and one-minute battle. The German veteran showed remarkable resilience against the 18-year-old Russian.
The match was a tale of mental fortitude as much as tennis prowess. Andreeva struggled throughout with consistency on serve, committing a damaging 15 double faults and seeing her serve broken eight times. The first set alone lasted over an hour, with both players trading breaks before Andreeva edged the tiebreak 7-4. However, the 37 years-old veteran did not give up since then, putting a constant pressure on her favorized opponent and taking the shaky second set by 6-3 which featured 6 breaks on both sides in 9 games played. Andreeva's level has dropped significantly since the middle of second set, as she lost 6 games in a row which occured to be decisive, as she was not able to bounce back from 0-3 in decisive set. Siegemund was under pressure just after getting an early break, but after defending four breakpoints in one game, the German held all the following service games in comfortable way to clinch the surprising victory after more than 3 hours of battle.
It was a survival battle with 42 pressure points produced by Siegemund and 37 by Andreeva. The German has put the throttle on gas in decisive moments, however Andreeva was definitely not in her best space in tennis terms and mentally-wise, being visibly frustrated and struggling during the match which extended her miserable run of form started from the American hard courts swing.
Zhang stuns Navarro in front of home crowd
Chinese veteran Shaui Zhang provided the tournament's first major shock, battling back from a set down to defeat 14th seed Emma Navarro 6-2 2-6 6-3 in front of an ecstatic home crowd. The 36-year-old wildcard entry showed tremendous mental strength after appearing on course for defeat, rallying from 0-3 down in the deciding set to win six consecutive games and seal one of her biggest victories in recent time.
Navarro who has recently defeated Iga Swiatek in WTA 1000 Beijing last week, started the match struggling with serve very much during the opening set, which went on the account of Chinese player after just 33 minutes of play. The American has completely dominated the secont set with an improved baseline consistency, forcing a decider. Navarro appeared in control after racing to a 3-0 lead in the third set, but Zhang - a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion - found another gear when it mattered most. The Chinese player relied on her years of experience, constructing points patiently and waiting for opportunities to attack Navarro's second serve.
This marked Zhang's second consecutive victory over Navarro on Chinese soil, having also defeated her 6-4 6-2 at last year's China Open. This ultimately ends Navarro's bid in the race for WTA Finals, even though her chances before the start of this event were just marginal.
Swiatek and Osaka move through
World number two Iga Swiatek announced her arrival in Wuhan with an emphatic 6-1 6-1 demolition of Marie Bouzkova in just over an hour, recording her 60th match victory of the 2025 season. The Polish star looked sharp from throughout whole the match, breaking serve early in both sets and never allowing the Czech player any rhythm or confidence. It was a statement performance from the six-time Grand Slam champion, who bounced back impressively from her shock fourth-round loss to Emma Navarro in Beijing.
Former world number one Naomi Osaka produced a gutsy comeback performance, rallying from a set down to defeat Leylah Fernandez 4-6 7-5 6-3 in two and a half hours. The four-time Grand Slam champion earned her first career victory in Wuhan, which was also a first meeting between both since US Open 2021, when the Canadian performed a surprising run in to final.
The match began poorly for Osaka, who double-faulted on the opening point and appeared tentative in the early stages. Fernandez took advantage, serving consistently and converting one of two break point chances to claim the first set 6-4. However, Osaka gradually found her range as the match progressed, particularly on her groundstrokes. The second set featured five service breaks as both players struggled to hold, but Osaka's superior power eventually wore down the Canadian, who showed signs of fatigue in the closing stages. The Canadian did her best to put fight against Osaka, producing 37 pressure points in compare to 24 faced on serve, but suffered second consecutive three-setter lose against more powerful opponent, following defeat to Coco Gauff in Beijing last week.
Raducanu and Ostapenko forced to retire
The Asian swing's growing list of withdrawals and retirements continued on Tuesday as both Emma Raducanu and Jelena Ostapenko were forced to abandon their first-round matches due to physical issues. Raducanu's retirement came while trailing Ann Li 6-1 4-1, with the British number one appearing visibly dizzy and distressed throughout the second set before taking a medical timeout to have her blood pressure and temperature checked.
Raducanu had started brightly, breaking Li's serve in the opening game, but quickly lost her way, dropping six consecutive games in just 28 minutes as she struggled to move effectively around the court. After holding serve to start the second set - despite committing four double faults - Raducanu's condition deteriorated further, and she was forced to shake hands with her opponent after the medical assessment. The retirement continues a frustrating Asian swing for the 2021 US Open champion, who has now lost matches while holding match points against both Barbora Krejcikova in Seoul and Jessica Pegula in Beijing.
Ostapenko's withdrawal came in similarly disappointing fashion, with the former French Open champion retiring while trailing Sorana Cirstea 6-0 2-1. The Latvian never found any rhythm against the Romanian veteran and appeared hampered physically from the opening games. Both retirements add to growing concerns about playing conditions across Asian tournaments, with the brutal conditions that have seen temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius combined with humidity levels near 80% causing numerous withdrawals in both Wuhan and the concurrent Shanghai Masters.
Wednesday's matches preview
Wednesday will be a day full of action in Wuhan with 14 out of 16 matches of second round scheduled to emerge the top 16 of the last WTA 1000 tournament of the season. The world number one and reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka comes back to competition after a few weeks of rest following her victorious US Open campaign. Rebecca Sramkova will be her first opponent after defeating Anna Kalinskaya in three sets, which was considered as quite a surprise related to pre-match odds. It was just 12th victory in 28 matches played on hard by the Slovakian, who played quite a disappointing season after great performance showed at the end of last year.
Naomi Osaka sets up another exciting match-up after today's win over Fernandez, playing against the recent WTA 1000 China Open runner-up and new world number 17 - Linda Noskova. That will be a meeting of two of range of most efficient serving players in the field on hard courts this season. Both thrive on that surface in 2025 - Osaka's record is 22-8 including the recent runs into final in Canadian Open and semifinal in US Open. The fatigue of young Czech is somewhat a question mark, as she played a very demanding three-setter against Yulia Putintseva ended in decisive tiebreak with a score 6-4 4-6 7-6(2), where Noskova came back from 1-3 down in third set. That was just two days after competing in final of China Open against Amanda Anisimova, who decided to withdraw from event in Wuhan.
Elena Rybakina starts her Wuhan campaign to bounce back after upset served by Eva Lys at the start of previous event in Beijing. It's another top tier player in a stacked upper quarter of a draw alongside Sabalenka, Osaka and Noskova. Rybakina meets Jaqueline Cristian. The Romanian came back from a set down after to defeat Mccartney Kessler by 6-7(6) 6-0 6-3. The opening set lasted 82 minutes, where Cristian forced a tiebreak from double break down since the start. She not managed to grab that set but fully dominated the on-court events since then to score her 17th win in 30 matches on hard courts this year.
Belinda Bencic and Elise Mertens set up the interesting battle for a spot against Iga Swiatek in round of 16. The Swiss and the Belgian had a strong start to the season, decorated with WTA 500 title won by Bencic in Abu Dhabi and WTA 250 trophy won by Mertens in Singapore. Both were successful on grass, as Mertens doubled her tally of the year winning in Libema Open, while Bencic was a semifinalist at Wimbledon. Their recent form on hard courts is not as stellar as neither managed to make into quarterfinal of any tournament since start of US Open, but both are well known from consistency and abilities to put the opponents in uncomfortable position with their play.
