Maria Sakkari beat eighth seed Marta Kostyuk 4–6, 6–2, 6–2 in Wuhan’s second round on October 13. After losing the opener, she conceded only two games in each remaining set, following her first-round win over Donna Vekic into the last sixteen.
Afterwards, Sakkari reflected on missed opportunities against Elina Svitolina in Beijing, saying she had not been brave enough on break points. She described wanting to make different choices at important moments while trusting the base of her game.
Wuhan was the site of an earlier breakthrough. As a No.80 qualifier in 2017, she beat Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Vesnina and Alize Cornet to reach the semifinals and enter the top fifty. This was her first singles appearance here since 2018.
The next draw position paired her with wild card Mia Pohankova, with a first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since February’s Doha event at stake.
