Gauff extends win streak to eight to reach Wuhan quarters; Pegula ousted

Coco Gauff's winning streak in China is still alive after a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Marta Kostyuk in the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open Round of 16 on Thursday.

"I'm really happy with how I played today," Gauff said after her win. "It was a pretty straightforward match. Marta and I always have some good battles. Today I was able to get through in straight sets."

Wuhan:  Scores | Schedule | Draws

No.4 seed Gauff bested 13th-seeded Kostyuk in just 61 minutes of play to earn her eighth straight win on tour. Gauff clinched her eighth career WTA singles title last week at the WTA 1000 China Open in Beijing, returning to World No.4 on Monday in the process.

Gauff still has the chance to become only the second player to win both Beijing and Wuhan in the same year since that WTA 1000 combo came into effect in 2014. Caroline Garcia won both of those titles in 2017.

No.2 seed Jessica Pegula was bidding to put two Americans into the final eight but fell short against Wang Xinyu. The 51st-ranked Wang enjoyed a clinical serving day to hold off Pegula, winning 6-3, 7-5 to advance to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal. Wang will face Ekaterina Alexandrova next.

Thursday's victory was also Gauff's 70th career match-win at WTA 1000 events. The 20-year-old American becomes the youngest player to hit that number since the WTA 1000 tier started in 2009. She is only the fourth player to reach that milestone before turning 23, joining Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka and Iga Swiatek.

Against Kostyuk, Gauff reigned supreme on return, converting all five of the break points she gathered while only dropping serve once, in the second game of the match.

After a relatively tight first set, Gauff leveled up in the second, where she won 26 of the 35 points. Kostyuk was partially undone by double faults at inopportune moments; she had four in the contest, including on match point.

Gauff's quarterfinal opponent will be World No.45 Magda Linette of Poland. Linette dismissed No.8 seed Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-3 in 72 minutes on Thursday, earning the 14th Top 20 win of her career and making her first career WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

Highlights: Linette d. Kasatkina

Gauff battled past Linette in their only previous meeting, which was a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 win for the American in the first round of the 2021 US Open.

"That match, it's so long ago," Gauff said. "I practiced with [Linette] multiple times in between. She lives in south Florida. She's a tough opponent. ... She's been playing a great couple of matches here in Wuhan. I expect it to be a tough match."

Wang stays undefeated against Pegula: Wang improved to 2-0 against Pegula, having ousted the World No.3 from Wimbledon over the summer. Both of her Top 10 wins have come against Pegula, and Thursday's win was her best career win by ranking.

"On clay and grass, I did pretty well," Wang said. "After the Olympics, I did not have that much time to train on hard courts. Slowly through matches I found my game on the hard courts. I made some adjustments accordingly.

"Very happy to be back in China with a great performance here."

With a spot in the quarterfinals on the line, Wang played a methodically solid match from the baseline to maintain pressure on Pegula, who struggled to hit through her. Most impressively, Wang did not face a break point until she stepped to the line to serve out the win at 6-3, 5-3.

Pegula took her advantage, breaking Wang to get back on serve and sow the seeds for a comeback. But Wang responded perfectly, earning her first match points at 15-40 and converting on her second with a clean backhand winner to seal the upset. 

With the win, Wang became the second Chinese woman to make the Wuhan quarterfinals, following in Wang Qiang's efforts in 2018. She is also the fifth Chinese player to score a Top 5 win in a completed match at a WTA 1000, joining Li Na, Shuai Zhang, Saisai Zheng and Yafan Wang.