Iga Swiatek reached her fourth WTA-1000 semi-final of the year after defeating Ann Li in the Wuhan Open.

Swiatek needed just an hour and 35 minutes to win 6-4 6-1 against Li, who committed 49 unforced errors across the two sets.

The Pole made a fast start, breaking Li's serve in game one, but had to save three break points while serving for the set.

Nevertheless, her quality came to the fore in the second, where she conceded just 13 points and converted three break point opportunities, the last of which was also her first match point.

1 - Since 1990, Iga Swiatek (Rome, Toronto, Cincinnati and Wuhan in 2026) has become the first player to reach her first four WTA-level semi-finals of a season at Tier I/WTA-1000 events. Charge. #WuhanOpen | @wuhanopentennis @WTA https://t.co/z01shS6ibY

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) October 16, 2026

Swiatek will face compatriot Maja Chwalinska in the semi-finals after the latter defeated Maria Sakkari 6-0 3-6 7-5.

After beating Jasmine Paolini in the round of 16, Sonay Kartal caused an even bigger upset in the last eight after knocking out fifth seed Elina Svitolina 6-2 2-6 6-4.

Kartal will battle Jelena Ostapenko for a place in the final, with the Latvian defeating Diana Shnaider 7-6 (8-6) 6-1.

Swiatek keeps on rolling

Swiatek is yet to drop a set in the competition en route to the semi-finals, and is now the highest-ranked player remaining after Svitolina's surprise exit.

Swiatek (Rome, Toronto, Cincinnati and Wuhan in 2026) has become the first player to reach her first four WTA-level semi-finals of a season at Tier I/WTA-1000 events.

And since the Tier format’s introduction in 1990, only Steffi Graf (28), Martina Hingis (36) and Monica Seles (37) have taken fewer Tier I/WTA-1000 main draw appearances to reach 25 semi-finals than Swiatek (50).

The 25-year-old has now reached the last four at all 10 current WTA-1000 events, becoming the fourth player to do so – and the only currently active player – after Caroline Wozniacki, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Simona Halep.

Kartal (#170), meanwhile, is the third-lowest WTA-1000 semi-finalist since the format’s introduction in 2009, ranked higher only than Sloane Stephens (#934 in Toronto 2017) and Victoria Azarenka (#186 in Miami 2018).