Wuhan: Chinese outsiders topple Eala and Cîrstea on opening days

The last WTA 1000 tournament of the season already had a thin field, and it has lost two more seeds before the top players have even started. At the Wuhan Open, two Chinese outsiders knocked out seeded players in the first round: qualifier Shi Han beat 13th seed Alexandra Eala, and wildcard Hanyu Guo stunned 12th seed Sorana Cîrstea.

Shi turns it around against Eala

Eala looked in control at first. She took the opening set 6-4 and was ahead 3-2 in the second. Then Shi, who had come through qualifying with wins over Peyton Stearns and Kamilla Rakhimova, won four games in a row to level the match. She kept that momentum in the decider, going 3-0 up and closing out a 4-6 6-3 6-3 win.

According to Just Women's Sports, Shi's heavy forehand kept Eala pinned behind the baseline, and the Filipina finished with 37 unforced errors. It is the biggest win of Shi's career. In the second round she meets Leylah Fernandez. Eala is still playing in Wuhan, in the doubles draw with Zeynep Sönmez.

Guo's comeback means more than a result

The most dramatic match of the opening days, though, came from Hanyu Guo. The world No. 240 lost the first set 6-1 to Cîrstea and fell 0-4 behind in the second. She came back, saved three match points and won 1-6 7-6(6) 7-5 after two hours and 41 minutes.

According to the WTA, no player ranked as low as Guo had beaten a top-20 opponent in Wuhan since the tournament began in 2014. The result means even more given her year. Guo won the Wimbledon doubles title in July with Kristina Mladenovic, but her father fell seriously ill soon afterwards and was taken into intensive care. Since Wimbledon she has played only four tournaments across singles and doubles.

"I will always have a kind of sorrow, so that's why I made a lot of efforts," the 28-year-old told wtatennis.com. Next she faces Katie Volynets.

WTAMuchová needs nine match points to beat Osaka; Alexandrova stuns Nosková

More drama in the opening round

Guo's was not the only long match. Liudmila Samsonova beat Kateřina Siniaková in three sets and now plays fifth seed Elina Svitolina. Samsonova said the quiet stretch in her schedule was paying off: "I've had a quiet six months... so I have a little bit more energy." Yulia Putintseva beat Zeynep Sönmez 6-7(1) 6-3 7-5 in two hours and 51 minutes and next meets 11th seed Diana Shnaider.

The draw had already been weakened before a ball was struck. World No. 1 Elena Rybakina withdrew with a foot injury, and defending champion Coco Gauff is also missing. Amanda Anisimova and Madison Keys are absent too. That leaves three-time champion Aryna Sabalenka as the only former winner in the 56-player draw.

Sabalenka joins on Wednesday

As top seed, Sabalenka had a first-round bye. Her second-round match is scheduled for Wednesday against the winner of the first-round match between Ann Li and Qinwen Zheng. Zheng arrived in Wuhan straight from her title run in Beijing. The singles final is set for Sunday, 18 October, and the champion will collect 1,000 ranking points and $665,000.