Coco gafff AND IgA swiatek Stay in the collision course at the bottom half of the Wuhan draw, as both advanced in straight groups on Thursday night.
Gauff recorded a 6-3, 6-2 win over 36-year-old Chinese Zhang Shuai, while Swiatek brought Belinda Bencic 7-6 (2), 6-4.
If you are scoring at home, Swiatek has won 11 of the previous 15 meetings with her American rival, but it is Gauff who has won their last three meetings.
Guff arrived at her second quarter -final from two career appearances in Wuhan – she lost to the eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka in the last four last year.
An early holiday trade kept things interesting in a determined one, but it was Gauff who took control to win 10 of the last 13 games from 2-2 in the opening. She hit the ball with the Authority against Wild Card ranked 142 and improved to 44-14 a season.
“It was a good match, slightly up and down, but I’m happy to go through,” Guff said for her victory, which received 60 minutes AF presented 14 winners against 18 mandatory worlds no.3.
Gauff broke five times out of nine opportunities and won 60 out of 100 points in the match.
Gauff will face 37-year-old Laura Siegemund, Germany in the next round.
Swiate had to withdraw from a division at the opening set to draw Bencic. The Swiss had gathered from a split to lead 5-4, but failed to serve the set and then came out to the short end of the opening connection.
Bencic led by a break in the second set, but Swiatek took over, breaking for 2-1 then again, turning a third resting point in the seventh match to lead 4-3. The second seed pole won 12 of its last 14 points of service to block the victory in two hours and 10 minutes.
Swiatek improves to 5-1 on the 15th rank Bencic and is running for what would be her 12th WTA 1000 title. She is making her debut in Wuhan, and is up to 61-14 in the season.
Swiatek is the first WTA player to reach the 60th sign in four consecutive seasons since 2001. She will face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-finals.
