Jasmine Paolini pulled off the shock of the WTA 1000 Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open on Friday when she sent world No. 2 Iga Swiatek into a semi-final meeting with Coco Gauff with a loss of just three games after America’s Laura Siegemund raced past in her quarter-final.
Jasmine is someone I’ve lost to a few times in the last few games, so I think I can improve a lot in that game in Cincinnati. I think I let it slide. I felt like I was in control. It obviously didn’t serve well, but with the new confidence I have in the service, I think it can make a difference. Coco Gauff
It was the Italian’s first victory over Swiatek in their 7th meeting, with Paolini having previously won just one set against the 24-year-old Pole.
“I finally won a competition!” Seventh-seeded Paolini said in her on-court interview. “I’m super happy with my level. It just feels great.”
On a warm Friday evening at the Optics Valley International Tennis Centre, 29-year-old Paolini produced impeccable tennis to beat Swiatek, the reigning Wimbledon champion, 6-1 6-2, in just 65 minutes.
Paolini made her intention known early, breaking Swiatek to love with a thunderous return winner, and it was 4-0 before the Pole managed to hold her serve, but the Italian broke her for a third time to put the set away when the No. 2 seed sent a hurried forehand into the net.
Paolini played near-flawless tennis to win the 26-minute first set, stroking seven winners and, incredibly, making just one unforced error.
The second was much the same, with Paolini leading 2-0, before Swiatek scored her first break of the match to regain serve, but the Italian lovingly broke back again with another fantastic return winner to take an insurmountable 3-1 lead.
“I must say I enjoyed every moment,” said Paolini. “I stepped onto the pitch very focused and the crowd really supported me. This time I had the ideas clearer. I was so aggressive and I think that was the key.”
The Italian was aggressive and took advantage of the pace of Swiatek’s strokes, and remarkably, despite the attack mode she was in, she only conceded three unforced errors against her fifteen winners, while the Pole conceded six break points in the match, with the seventh seed winning them all.
Iga Swiatek could find few answers to Jasmine Paolini’s controlled aggression in the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open
©Wang He/Getty Images
Last year, Paolini rose to stardom by reaching back-to-back finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, taking the record from Gauff.
The American woman’s record eight unforced errors also came against Swiatek, as players clearly stepped up their game against the excellent Pole, the 21-year-old producing just eight miscues at the Madrid Open as she dispatched the world number two in a spellbinding 6-1 6-1 match earlier this year.
Swiatek has had a disappointing Asian swing so far, following a short-lived run at the China Open with an early exit in Wuhan.
Since becoming the first Polish player in history to emerge victorious at the Wimbledon Championships, the 24-year-old has endured a busy schedule on the WTA Tour, and although she has since claimed two more titles, at the Cincinnati Open and the Korea Open, fatigue appears to be setting in late in the season for the six-time major champion.
Nevertheless, despite the setback, the world number 2 has enjoyed another stellar season on tour, reaching three semi-finals at the Grand Slams and progressing to the last four at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros before winning her first Wimbledon title.
Although her run at the US Open didn’t go to plan, Swiatek still enjoyed success on the North American hardcourt swing, adding another WTA 1000 crown to her name in Cincinnati.
With three tour-level titles collected by 2025, she will look to claim a fourth-place finish at the year-end WTA Finals in early November.
Aryna Sabalenka replaced Swiatek at the top of the rankings on October 21, 2024 and has successfully defended her US Open title so far this year, winning the most titles, including WTA 1000 titles in Indian Wells and Madrid, while reaching the most finals, with 8.
However, Swiatek’s titles have put her back in the hunt for the coveted year-end No. 1 ranking, but her latest loss appears to have derailed her hopes for this season.
The year-end No. 1 ranking has been determined at the WTA Finals for the past two years, with Swiatek winning the 2023 title after winning the title and Sabalenka holding off the Pole in 2024 with a run to the semi-finals.
This year it is not on the line as the maximum number of points a player can win at the WTA Finals is 1,500 and they must win the tournament undefeated. So even if Swiatek wins it, she is still 132 points short, behind Sabalenka, assuming the Belarusian wins Wuhan.
As things stand, Sabalenka and Swiatek will be out of regular WTA Tour action this year after Wuhan, with the season-ending WTA Finals, to be held in Saudi Arabia from November 1 to 8, their final event of the 2025 season.
Unless Swiatek decides to compete in one of the remaining regular events, Sabalenka has secured the crown for 2025, while there is also the matter that both have not played the required number of WTA 500 tournaments this year and face points deductions.
Jasmine Paolini’s stunning victory over Iga Swiatek has boosted her hopes of qualifying for the WTA Finals in Riyadh next month
©Wang He/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Paolini has increased her chances of securing the final qualifying spot for the PIF WTA Finals in Riyadh over Elena Rybakina, who fell to Sabalenka earlier on Friday, and Mirra Andreeva.
With Jessica Pegula’s victory over Katerina Siniakova in the quarterfinals, combined with Rybakina’s loss, the American has now officially qualified for Riyadh.
A win on Saturday against Gauff would boost her past Andreeva to No. 6 in the Race standings with two weeks to play.
“I always try to look at it in a positive way and get motivation from that,” Paolini said. “It’s not easy because I think everyone close to my position is thinking about it. But I’m trying to concentrate on the matches, stay there and try to play the best tennis I can.”
“If I start playing well, I have a chance to qualify. But if not, if I don’t play well, I wouldn’t have a chance. That’s why I try to just concentrate on the tennis. But of course it’s something that’s in my mind. I can’t joke about it.”
Paolini next faces Gauff, against whom she has triumphed in the past three meetings.
World number 3 Coco Gauff got past Laura Siegemund in straight sets to meet Jasmine Paolini in the Wuhan semi-final on Saturday
©Wang He/Getty Images
Gauff reached a second straight semi-final with a 6-3 6-0 win over Germany’s Laura Siegemund in 85 minutes.
The 21-year-old American returned exceptionally well, winning 27 of 45 points against Siegemund’s serve and breaking her five times.
“It was a pretty easy match,” Gauff said afterwards. “She is a difficult and tough player, but I thought I did well, was patient and waited for opportunities.”
Winner of 7 of 8 matches in Beijing and Wuhan, Gauff leads all Hologic WTA Tour players with 15 wins in China in the past 2 years, and she is the first woman in the 16-year history of the WTA 1000s to reach 5 consecutive semifinals in China.
“Jasmine is someone I’ve lost to a few times in the past few times, so I think I can improve a lot in that match in Cincinnati,” Gauff said after her win over Siegemund and looking into the semifinals. “I think I let it slide. I felt like I was in control. Obviously it didn’t serve well, but with the new confidence I have in the serve, I think it can make a difference.”
Laura Siegemund was outclassed by Coco Gauff in their quarterfinal match at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center in Wuhan, China on Friday
©Wang He/Getty Images
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