Coco Gauff — coming off a semifinal finish in Beijing — has been super efficient at the Wuhan Open, not only winning the first three rounds in straight sets but losing just nine games in six sets. This was the expected outcome given none of her three opponents — Moyuka Uchijima, wildcard Zhang Shuai and Laura Siegemund — are in the top 50.
The 21-year-old has now matched her 2024 result in Wuhan and reached her fifth career WTA 1000 semifinal on Chinese soil (1-3). Last year she ended up having a great time in this country, lifting the title in Beijing and continuing to win matches until her semifinal defeat to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka here in Wuhan.
This is going to be her 12th career WTA 1000 semifinal. Since the format’s introduction in 1990, only two players — Martina Hingis and Maria Sharapova — have reached more Tier-1/WTA 1000 semifinals before turning 22. Should she prevail this evening, it would lead to her fifth ever final at this level and the third of the year (Madrid, Beijing).
Although she was crowned her second career Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros this summer, the American wasn’t exactly having her most successful season on hard courts. In fact, it wasn’t until Beijing when she finally showed up in her first 2025 semifinal on this surface — and was denied a place in the final by Amanda Anisimova.
Jasmine Paolini final broke the curse and overcame her 0-6 head-to-head record against Iga Swiatek. The seventh seed, who had won only one set in their prior half a dozen encounters, took just 65 minutes to shock the reigning Wimbledon champion, 6-1, 6-2, after converting all six breakpoint chances in the process.
After losing her career’s first eight meetings against top-2 players, the Italian has now prevailed in the last two such clashes, including beating a certain Coco Gauff in Cincinnati this fall. Further, she has reached her first WTA 1000 semifinal in China after falling short in the quarterfinal stages of both Wuhan (2024) and Beijing (last week).
Arriving in Wuhan following the quarterfinal exit to Amanda Anisimova in the Chinese capital, the world No. 8 was firmly tested in the first two rounds, having to rally from a set down to beat Yuan Yue and Clara Tauson (ret). However, she seems determined to have more success in her already superlative season, particularly at WTA 1000 level.
The 29-year-old has become the third-oldest player to reach four Tier-1/WTA 1000 semifinals in a season, courtesy of her performances in Miami (SF), Rome (title) and Cincinnati (R-up). There would be no lack of confidence as she seeks to enter her 10th career final; she stands 9-8 in semifinals and 0-1 in China (lost at 2023 Zhengzhou).
Head-to-head: Jasmine Paolini leads 3-2. Both players will know exactly what to expect after already facing off three times in 2025. While Coco Gauff has lost all of their encounters in the season so far — in Stuttgart, Rome and Cincinnati — the Italian can never afford to take the two-time Grand Slam champion for granted.