Iga Swiatek evidently ran out of gas in her fourth-round match against Emma Navarro at the China Open last week. The former world No. 1 had started the Asian swing with a title at the Korea Open, but was unable to carry that winning streak past the American opponent in Beijing and instead lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.
Nevertheless, it has turned out to be another successful season for the Pole, who won her sixth career Grand Slam title at Wimbledon — which, in turn, was her first trophy at any level in over a year. She immediately backed it up with her 11th career WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati and a 13th Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open.
It is about time the 24-year-old — who has won 25 titles in the last five years — makes her long overdue debut at the Wuhan Open. She has never placed the greatest emphasis on her Asian swings and, in fact, owned just a single career title in East Asia until last month (2023 China Open).
Marie Bouzkova went off to a flier in her first-round match against Camila Osorio and removed the Colombian, 6-3, 6-4, despite modest resistance from her opponent. This is her second win from three appearances at the Wuhan Open and the first since her second-round finish to Wang Qiang.
The Czech — who won just three main draw matches in the first three months of the season (all in Brisbane) — has come to life after returning to hard courts in late July. Beginning with a second career title in Prague, she has carried on with a third round in Montreal, a semifinal in Monterrey and a fourth-round finish in Beijing.
Head-to-head: Iga Swiatek leads 1-0. The Pole lost just six games in winning their third-round encounter at Roland-Garros last year, an outcome which was entirely expected; it became part of her 21-match winning streak. Marie Bouzkova has a near-impossible task and needs nothing short of a miracle.
