Swiatek tops Li, books all-Polish semifinal against Chwalinska at the Wuhan Open

Another day, another milestone for Iga Swiatek.

The former World No. 1 defeated Ann Li 6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour, 33 minutes on Friday night to reach her first Wuhan semifinal and become the fourth player since 2009, and the only active player, to reach the semifinals at all 10 current WTA 1000 events.

Wuhan: Scores | Order of play | Draws

There, she will face compatriot Maja Chwalinska for the first time at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level.

The matchup will mark the second professional meeting between the former junior doubles partners. They first met at an ITF event in Stockholm in 2016 when both were 15. Swiatek won 6-2, 6-3, and a few months later the pair finished runner-up in girls' doubles at the 2017 Australian Open.

"It's great that we have two Polish players in the semifinals. I think it means a lot to Polish tennis," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "So hopefully it's going to be a nice match. I'm really happy for Maja. She for sure improved her game this year, so I'll be looking forward to the match."

This will be the first all-Polish semifinal at a WTA-level event in the Open Era, though Magda Linette and Magdalena Frech contested an all-Polish final in Prague in 2024.

It also marks just the second time since the tournament's inception in 2014 that two players from the same country will have met in the Wuhan semifinals, following Zheng Qinwen and Wang Xinyu in 2024.

Back-to-back-to-back straight-set wins for Swiatek

Swiatek handled business in her opening matches against Frech and Ashlyn Krueger and did much the same against Li, who arrived at the quarterfinal stage playing some of the best tennis of her career.

To Li's credit, she pushed Swiatek deep into the opening set. But the six-time Grand Slam champion navigated service games of 14 and 10 points, respectively, and saved three break points in the final game to close out the set after 56 minutes.

From there, it was smooth sailing for Swiatek, who won seven of the final eight games overall to earn her second straight victory over an American and a third consecutive straight-sets win.

Li had her opportunities, but an 0-for-3 mark on break points and 49 unforced errors -- combined with Swiatek winning 74% of first-serve points and 60% of her second-serve points -- proved too much to overcome. The defeat denied Li a spot in her first WTA 1000 semifinal.

Still, Swiatek was quick to praise her opponent. Li upset top seed Aryna Sabalenka and reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal this week, and she is projected to achieve a career-high ranking Monday.

"We're playing really good tennis," Swiatek said. "We [both] have a lot of top spin. I'm happy with how I adjusted to the change of rhythm. We already played this year, and I know she's not an easy opponent. She's playing really great tennis and I like her style, so I knew I needed to be at the top of my game, loosen up my hand and play fast and brave."

This is now the seventh different WTA 1000 event where Swiatek has reached the semifinals without dropping a set and the first time she has done so since winning Cincinnati last season. A victory over Chwalinska on Saturday would send her to her first Wuhan final and leave her with final appearances at all 10 current WTA 1000 events.