Canada’s Bianca Andreescu and China’s Yue Yuan advanced to the quarterfinals in the women’s doubles event at the Wuhan Open on Thursday without playing a match. The top-seeded Italians Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani withdrew from their match, granting Andreescu and Yuan a walkover victory. Paolini later progressed to the singles quarterfinals after her opponent, Denmark’s Clara Tauson, retired while trailing 3-6, 6-1, 3-1.
Mississauga’s Bianca Andreescu and China’s Yue Yuan will now face the No. 8 seeded pair of Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina and Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic in the upcoming round. Meanwhile, Leylah Fernandez from Laval, Quebec, and her partner Erin Routliffe from New Zealand were eliminated in the round of 16 after losing 4-6, 6-4, 10-4 to Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic and Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia.
U.S. Open champion Aryna Sabalenka extended her winning streak at the Wuhan Open to 19 matches by defeating Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2 to secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000-level tournament. Sabalenka, who is ranked at the top, has previously won titles at Wuhan in 2018, 2019, and 2024. Second-ranked Iga Swiatek also advanced by defeating Belinda Bencic 7-6 (2), 6-4, maintaining her dominance over Bencic with a 5-1 career record.
In another match, third-ranked Coco Gauff breezed past Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-2. Sabalenka is set to face eighth-seeded Elena Rybakina in the next round, while Swiatek will be up against Jasmine Paolini and Gauff will play against Laura Siegemund.
Jessica Pegula staged a comeback to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, advancing to the quarterfinals. Pegula, the sixth seed, leveled the deciding set at 2-2 before securing victory by winning four of the last five games. This win followed Pegula’s previous victory over No. 9 Alexandrova, where she needed seven match points to defeat fellow American Hailey Baptiste in the second round.