Ann Li needed ten match points to put Aryna Sabalenka out of the Wuhan Open. The 26-year-old American wasted the first nine in the deciding tiebreak, and when the 10th finally stuck, the top seed and defending finalist were both gone before the round of 16 had even started.

Jessica Pegula, seeded second and last year’s runner-up here, had three match points of her own against Jelena Ostapenko on the same Wednesday evening. She converted none of them. Ostapenko came through 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 and is still in the draw, facing Diana Shnaider in Thursday’s late-night quarterfinal.

“It was a crazy match,” Li said after beating Sabalenka 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). “I did not start out as well as I would have liked, and I had a lot of match points. I missed some opportunities, but she also played really well in those moments.”

Li’s reward is Iga Swiatek. The seventh seed brushed aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-4 in the round of 16 and is one of only two top-10 players still in the women’s draw. Elina Svitolina is the other, after her own 6-1, 6-4 win over Chinese wild card Guo Hanyu. The quarterfinalists also no longer include sixth seed Karolina Muchova, ninth seed Belinda Bencic, 10th seed Iva Jovic or 15th seed Jasmine Paolini.

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Chwalinska one win from the semis

The most remarkable survivor is 16th seed Maja Chwalinska. The Polish 24-year-old, who reached the Roland Garros final earlier this year, knocked out world No. 11 Iva Jovic 6-4, 6-1 in the round of 16, the biggest win of her career by opponent rank, according to the WTA.

“It has been a great year for me for sure. Very unforgettable year,” Chwalinska said.

She faces Maria Sakkari, the former world No. 3, on Friday for a place in the last four. Their head-to-head sits at 1-1, with Chwalinska winning the most recent meeting at the French Open.

Shnaider’s season of top-10 scalps

Shnaider, the world No. 13, added Muchova 7-5, 6-3 in the round of 16, her fourth top-10 win of 2026 and her fourth WTA 1000 quarterfinal of the season. Her year already includes semifinal runs at Roland Garros, Adelaide, and Washington.

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“When I just came here, I was dead mentally, and definitely wasn’t expecting to do great,” the left-hander said after beating Muchova.

Her quarterfinal against Ostapenko begins at 11pm local time on Thursday on the Dongfeng Voyah Center Court.

What is still on the table

Svitolina plays Sonay Kartal in the second Friday quarterfinal. Kartal reached the last eight by beating Paolini 6-2, 6-0. The semifinals are played on Saturday, with the women’s singles final scheduled for Sunday, October 18, no earlier than 6:30pm local time. The champion collects $665,000 and 1,000 WTA ranking points, the last WTA 1000 title of the season.

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