BEIJING -- No.45 Magda Linette earned her fifth career Top 10 by defeating No.5 Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 6-0 in the third round of the China Open on Monday. Linette is the second Polish player to book a spot in the fourth round, joining No.31 Magdalena Frech, who defeated 12th seed Diana Shnaider in the third round on Sunday.
Beijing: Scores | Order of Play | Draws
Linette, 32, advanced to her second consecutive Beijing Round of 16, having made the same stage last year, where she lost to Polish No.1 Iga Swiatek. She will next play either 16th seed Donna Vekic or 17th seed Mirra Andreeva for a place in her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal.
Facing Paolini for the third time, Linette successfully avenged her 6-4,6-1 loss to the Italian in the same round at the Paris Olympics. Both players generated nine break-point chances, but Linette saved seven while Paolini could only dodge three. Riding her solid serving performance, Linette sealed the win after 1 hour and 26 minutes.
Paolini entered Beijing hoping to lock up qualification for her first WTA Finals Riyadh this week. She sits at No.4 on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals behind Elena Rybakina, who has withdrawn from the Asian swing due to injury.
Beijing has proven a strong week for the Polish contingent. Before Linette notched the upset of the tournament, Frech continued her outstanding season with a physical pair of wins to make her second WTA 1000 Round of 16 of the year.
Frech, 26, came into Bejing at her career-high ranking of No.31 after winning her first Hologic WTA Tour title in Guadalajara. After beating Alycia Parks in the second round, she ousted Shnaider for her third Top 20 win of the year to bring her active win streak to seven matches.
She will face Zhang Shuai in the fourth round on Tuesday for a spot in her first WTA-1000 quarterfinal.
