Canada’s Bianca Andreescu and China’s Yue Yuan progressed to the women’s doubles quarterfinals at the Wuhan Open on Thursday without even hitting a ball. The top-seeded Italian duo of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani pulled out of the match, granting Andreescu and Yuan a walkover victory. Paolini also advanced to the singles quarterfinals after her opponent, Denmark’s Clara Tauson, retired while trailing 3-6, 6-1, 3-1.
Mississauga’s Andreescu and Yuan are set to face Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina and Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic, the No. 8 seeded pair. However, Leylah Fernandez from Laval, Que., and her partner Erin Routliffe from New Zealand were eliminated in the round of 16 after a tough 4-6, 6-4, 10-4 defeat against Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic and Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia. Routliffe, who resides in Montreal, usually partners with Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski from Ottawa, with whom she clinched the U.S. Open women’s doubles title last month.
In other matches, 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, the top-ranked player, has previously won titles at Wuhan in 2018, 2019, and 2024. Additionally, No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek won against Belinda Bencic, the former Olympic champion, with a score of 7-6 (2), 6-4.
Moving forward, Sabalenka is set to play eighth-seeded Elena Rybakina, while Swiatek will face Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals. Coco Gauff, ranked No. 3, breezed past Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-2 in the late match. Meanwhile, Jessica Pegula overcame an early service break in the third set to defeat Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 and secure a spot in the final eight. Pegula, seeded sixth, won four of the last five games after leveling the deciding set at 2-2.