Wuhan loses top two seeds: Li stuns Sabalenka, Ostapenko ousts Pegula

The Wuhan Open has lost both of its top seeds before the last 16. On Wednesday, Ann Li beat No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) on her tenth match point. Earlier the same day, Jeļena Ostapenko saved three match points and beat No. 2 seed Jessica Pegula 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-3.

Ten match points to topple the queen of Wuhan

Sabalenka has won the title in Wuhan three times and had always reached at least the semi-finals there. That run ends this year. The match lasted 2 hours and 27 minutes. At first the world No. 1 looked fully in control: she won nine points in a row on the way to the first set and led 4-2 in the second.

The 26-year-old American then took over. Li won nine of the next 11 games to level the match and move clear in the decider. She led 5-2 in the third set, but finishing the job proved the hardest part. Sabalenka saved five match points at 5-3 and two more at 5-4 and forced a tiebreak. In all she saved nine. Li took her tenth chance to win the tiebreak 7-5.

"I think on some of those match points I was about to lose my mind. I was about to crash out," Li said afterwards, according to the WTA. "In the end, you just have to realize... you have to play point by point."

It was Li's first win over Sabalenka in four meetings. It is also the best win of her career by ranking, and her third over a top-10 player. Sabalenka reportedly made 44 unforced errors to Li's 28. Li is in the third round in Wuhan for the first time and will play Indonesia's Janice Tjen in their first meeting.

Ostapenko escapes in the tiebreak

Pegula looked set to win easily. She took the first set 6-2 and led 6-4 in the second-set tiebreak. Ostapenko saved all three match points, took the last three points of the tiebreak and carried that momentum into the decider. She broke early, went 3-1 up and finished the match in just over two hours.

The 2017 Roland Garros champion hit 46 winners to Pegula's 15 and converted five of her seven break points, Just Women's Sports reported. The outlet counted it as Ostapenko's 27th career win over a top-10 player. It ends Pegula's attempt to repeat her strong run in Wuhan from last year at her first match.

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Thursday: Shnaider outplays Muchová

The upsets continued on Thursday. Diana Shnaider beat Karolína Muchová 7-5, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals. The Russian broke in the fifth game, lost that advantage and then broke again in the eleventh game, where a double fault from Muchová cost the Czech the set. In the second set Shnaider broke in the third game and stayed in control until she broke again to finish the match. Muchová had only just survived a tight three-setter against Caty McNally a day earlier. On Thursday she looked slow throughout, and Spanish outlet Canal Tenis noted her lack of power and her steady flow of errors.

Shnaider now leads the head-to-head 2-0, after also beating Muchová in three sets in Ningbo last year. She has never gone further than the first round in Wuhan before this week. On the way she beat Katie Boulter 6-3, 6-1 and Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-2, and has not dropped a set.

With both top seeds gone, the title is wide open. Li and Tjen play for a place in the quarter-finals, where Shnaider is already through. The final is on Sunday, 18 October.