Photo: Denis Zelenykh / Unsplash
Świątek out in Beijing quarterfinal as Mertens wins 7-6, 6-3
Iga Świątek lost 6-7 (0-7), 3-6 to Elise Mertens in the quarterfinal of the WTA 1000 event in Beijing. It was the Belgian's first win over the Pole.
The match began on Friday at about 13:00 Polish time. Świątek, ranked 9th and seeded 8th, was the favourite: she had won both earlier meetings with Mertens, in Stuttgart in 2024 and in Miami in 2025, without dropping a set.
A set without breaks
The first set was even and neither player lost serve. Świątek saved break points, but she did not win a single point in the tiebreak and lost it 0-7.
In the second set the first break came with Mertens leading 3-1: the Belgian won the game on the Pole's serve to go 4-1 up. She never gave the lead back. At 5-3 she won four points in a row to close out the match.
The road to the quarterfinal
In Beijing Świątek had beaten Donna Vekić 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 and Iva Jović 6-1, 6-3. Mertens, ranked 19th and seeded 13th, knocked out Coco Gauff on her way to the last eight.
What's next
Mertens plays Qinwen Zheng, who received a wild card from the organisers, in Saturday's semifinal. Świątek is chasing a place at the WTA Finals, the season-ending event for the top eight players, so every result in the Asian swing matters.
Source: WP SportoweFakty, polski-tenis.pl, Polsat Sport (8–9 Oct 2026)