The key facts

  • Maga Cwalina beat Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1 and reached a WTA 1000 final for the first time
  • Swiatek had pain in her left hip and took a medical timeout
  • Sonay Kartal (world No. 170) beat Ostapenko 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (7-5) and became the lowest-ranked WTA 1000 finalist

Cwalina ends Swiatek's run

Polish 16th seed Maga Cwalina beat her childhood friend and compatriot Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinal of the Wuhan Open on Saturday and reached the final of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time in her career. The 25-year-old Cwalina is playing only the fourth main draw of her career at this level. This season has been a breakthrough for her: in June, coming through qualifying, she unexpectedly reached the Roland Garros final.

Injury hampered Swiatek

Swiatek, who needed to win the title in Wuhan to keep her chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals alive, played with a left hip injury that limited her movement. In the first set she failed to convert two set points while serving for the set at 5-3, and before the 12th game she took a medical timeout and cried while receiving treatment. Early in the second set she spoke emotionally, in tears, with her fitness trainer Maciej Ryszczuk, received a warning for a time violation and dropped her fifth consecutive game. The match lasted two hours and eight minutes. The six-time Grand Slam champion could not turn the match around.

Cwalina's reaction

“Obviously, Iga was not at one hundred percent today, so of course I wish her all the best. It is always hard to play against a Polish opponent. She is a great champion, a living legend, she has won everything. It was a great honour for me to share the court with her. It seems I still cannot quite realise what is happening, and the fact that I beat her is just crazy for me,” Cwalina said.

Kartal — the lowest-ranked WTA 1000 finalist

In the final, Cwalina will face 24-year-old Briton Sonay Kartal, world No. 170, who beat Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (7-5) in a tense match. Kartal became the lowest-ranked finalist in the history of WTA 1000 tournaments and the first British finalist in Wuhan. It is her second final at tournament level and her first at WTA 1000 level. She only recently returned to the tour after a six-month break caused by a stress fracture of the spine that kept her off the court from March to September, and Wuhan is only her second tournament since her return.

Kartal's path to the final

Earlier, Kartal knocked out three seeded opponents in a row, including world No. 6 Elina Svitolina and No. 9 Belinda Bencic, and world No. 35 Ostapenko became her next victim. Against the 2017 Roland Garros champion, Kartal withstood 50 winners from her opponent. “Oof, that was probably one of the toughest matches of my career. I knew exactly how she would play. Sometimes she is impossible to stop, and at times you just have to ride out that wave. From a mental point of view, it was one of the best performances of my career. I am very proud of it,” Kartal said.