Swiatek and Chwalińska set up historic all-Polish semi-final in Wuhan

Polish tennis will make history at the Wuhan Open this weekend. Iga Swiatek beat Ann Li 6-4, 6-1 on Friday, and Maja Chwalińska outlasted Maria Sakkari 6-0, 3-6, 7-5. That puts two Poles in the last four, and according to the WTA their semi-final will be the first all-Polish semi-final at a WTA-level event in the Open Era.

Swiatek ends Li's giant-killing run

Li came into the quarter-final after the biggest week of her career, which included a win over top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the second round. Against Swiatek, though, the American could not turn her chances into games. She went 0-for-3 on break points and made 49 unforced errors, according to WTA figures. Swiatek won 74 per cent of points behind her first serve and 60 per cent behind her second. After a competitive first set, she took seven of the last eight games to close out the match in one hour and 33 minutes.

It is Swiatek's first semi-final in Wuhan, and it completes a notable set. The WTA says she is now the fourth player since 2009, and the only active one, to have reached the semi-finals at all ten current WTA 1000 events. She has not dropped a set all week. Earlier in the tournament she also won her 150th WTA 1000 match.

"It's great that we have two Polish players in the semifinals. I think it means a lot to Polish tennis," Swiatek said afterwards.

Chwalińska survives a thriller

The other quarter-final took two hours and 35 minutes and swung back and forth. Chwalińska, the 16th seed, raced through the opening set without dropping a game and lost only one point behind her first serve. Sakkari then hit back hard, striking 17 winners against eight unforced errors to level the match.

The decider stayed close until the end. The Greek saved five break points in a row across three of her service games, but Chwalińska stayed calm on her own serve. She mixed up the play with drop shot and lob combinations and, at one point, even hit a lob with her right hand while stretched out wide. "I feel like I was just very solid during my service games today," the Pole said.

Wildcard Zheng becomes first Chinese champion in Beijing, beats Andreeva

The win takes Chwalińska into her third tour-level semi-final and her first on outdoor hard courts. It is her second straight run to the last four at WTA 1000 level, and according to the WTA and Tennis Temple she will make her top-20 debut in Monday's rankings. She has won seven of her nine matches on her first Asian swing, including two victories over top-20 opponents.

Childhood friends, now rivals

The two Poles go back a long way. According to the WTA, they were junior doubles partners and won European junior titles together at under-14 and under-16 level. They also reached the girls' doubles final at the 2017 Australian Open. Now one of them is guaranteed a place in a WTA 1000 final.

Swiatek, the seventh seed, is the highest-ranked player left in the draw after fifth seed Elina Svitolina and 11th seed Diana Shnaider went out in the quarter-finals. The other semi-final is between Sonay Kartal and Jeļena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, on Saturday.