WUHAN, October 7, 2025 (Press Release)
Tuesday’s busy day of Main Draw play in Wuhan also saw wins for World No. 2 Iga Swiatek and 12th seed Karolina Muchova, while China’s Shuai Zhang and Germany’s Laura Siegemund earned notable upset wins.
Zhang beat 14th seed Emma Navarro 6-2 2-6 6-3 in front of her rapturous home crowd and plays Sorana Cirstea next. Siegemund earned a stubborn 6-7(4) 6-3 6-3 win over fifth seed Mirra Andreeva in the night session and now faces either Muchova or Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
Tuesday marked Osaka’s first match in Wuhan since 2017 and while hot conditions and a fiercely competitive opponent made for a difficult afternoon, the two-time Australian Open and US Open champion raised her level at crucial stages of the match.
Wuhan fans greeted Osaka’s win with a huge cheer of approval and she is proving a popular figure during this year’s tournament. “I think, honestly, I’m just really grateful,” said Osaka. “I feel like whenever I come to China, everyone shows me a lot of love and I appreciate it so much. I get the best gifts in China, and it’s just really cute, and I feel like I’m happy to see everyone, and everyone’s also happy to see me. So it’s a really good energy.”
Swiatek marked her Wuhan debut with a 60th win of the 2025 season, a businesslike 6-1 6-1 win over Marie Bouzkova in the second round. Swiatek is the fourth player under 25 to record 60+ match wins in four straight seasons (since 1990) and joins Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in that elite group.
Firing on all cylinders @iga_swiatek makes her Wuhan debut in style, defeating Bouzkova 6-1, 6-1.#WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/qrdkAAhTZT
— wta (@WTA) October 7, 2025
Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu retired when trailing 1-6 1-4 to Ann Li of the USA in their first round match, suffering from dizziness. Jelena Ostapenko was also unable to finish her match against Sorana Cirstea, citing heat stress illness.
World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka opens her campaign for a fourth title in a row at the Optics Valley Tennis Center on Wednesday when she takes on Rebecca Sramkova. Sabalenka, nicknamed “Daughter of Wuhan” by Chinese fans because she has never lost a match in the city, could become only the second player since Monica Seles to win the same WTA 1000 or equivalent four times consecutively if she lifts the Wuhan Open trophy again.
Third seed and two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff will also be in action on Wednesday when she plays Moyuka Uchijima. Sixth seed Jessica Pegula, seventh seed Jasmine Paolini and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina will also take to the center court.
