Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka saved nine match points before losing in three sets to Ann Li at the Wuhan Open on Wednesday, in a dramatic last-32 match that saw the four-time major winner require treatment on her taped-up right knee.
Li came from 4-2 down in the second set to beat Sabalenka, a three-time champion in Wuhan, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5). The American sealed victory with her 10th match point, the first one she had on her own serve.
Sabalenka fights back before falling short
It is now two straight defeats for Sabalenka, who lost to Nikola Bartunkova in the round of 32 at the China Open last week. Her previous event was the US Open, where she lost in the final to Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka trailed 4-1 in the deciding set when she received treatment on her already taped right knee. She then fell 5-2 behind before recovering to 5-5 and forcing a tiebreaker. Li produced a big forehand winner on her last match point, securing one of the biggest wins of her career.
Pegula wastes three match points
Earlier, second seed Jessica Pegula squandered three match points and lost to Jelena Ostapenko in three sets. It was the American’s first match in more than a month.
Ostapenko won 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3 in an unlikely comeback. She saved match points on three occasions in the second set against Pegula, who had not played since losing to Sabalenka in the US Open semifinals. Pegula, a finalist in Wuhan last year, took an extended break, missing events in Singapore and Beijing, because of the physical toll of her busy summer schedule.
Swiatek and others advance
Iga Swiatek had a much easier time, advancing to the round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-1 win over fellow Pole Magdalena Frech. The six-time major winner started slowly, dropping an early service game and falling 2-0 behind, but she then won six straight games to take the first set. She carried that momentum into the second set, winning four consecutive games to open it.
Seeded seventh in the WTA 1,000-level event, Swiatek reached the quarterfinals of the recent China Open in Beijing.
In other second-round matches, fifth seed Elina Svitolina beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. World No. 170 Sonay Kartal upset ninth seed Belinda Bencic 6-0, 7-5. Sixth seed Karolina Muchova beat Caty McNally 3-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) and next faces Diana Shnaider.