Swiatek Secures 40th Win of the Season at Wuhan Open; Svitolina Advances
Iga Swiatek and Elina Svitolina shine at the Wuhan Open, with Swiatek achieving her 40th win of the season.
Wuhan, October 14 (Daily Kiran) : In a thrilling display at the Wuhan Open, Poland’s Iga Swiatek claimed her 40th victory of the season by defeating compatriot Magdalena Frech on Wednesday. Swiatek’s win came with a decisive score of 6-2, 6-1, allowing her to advance further in the tournament. Meanwhile, Elina Svitolina also secured a spot in the third round after overcoming Lyudmila Samsonova.
Swiatek, the seventh seed, took just 1 hour and 43 minutes to achieve her milestone victory. With this win, she surpassed Serena Williams’ previous record of 148 victories in WTA 1000 events, positioning herself seventh on the all-time list with a total of 149 wins.
Following her match, Swiatek expressed her excitement about playing on center court for the first time. “I was happy to play my first match there, as I hadn’t had the chance before. The match started evenly, but I was pleased to make fewer mistakes and capitalize on my opportunities by the end. It was definitely a tougher match than the score suggests,” she noted.
This marks the fifth consecutive season in which Swiatek has recorded at least 40 wins, although she acknowledged that maintaining such performance in 2026 has been particularly challenging. “Every year has been so different that there’s no specific method or solution. I’m glad that despite the various challenges, I can keep performing well. This year has certainly been the hardest, so every win counts, and I aim to achieve as many victories as possible,” she added.
Next, Swiatek will face either Ashlyn Krueger or Lanliana Tara-Rudy in her upcoming match.
On the other side of the draw, fifth seed Svitolina triumphed over Samsonova with a score of 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. Despite taking an early lead, Svitolina had to fend off two match points from Samsonova, who pushed the contest to a decisive third set. Ultimately, Svitolina secured her victory, improving her head-to-head record against the Russian player to 2-0. She will next compete against either Katie Volynets or Hanyu Guo in the third round.
