Świątek to face Fręch in Wuhan in an all-Polish second-round match

Wednesday brings an all-Polish match in the second round of the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan. Seventh seed Iga Świątek, who had a first-round bye, takes on Magdalena Fręch. For Fręch, ranked 48th, simply reaching this stage is a small success, because she only got into the main draw as a lucky loser.

Fręch's second chance

In the final round of qualifying Fręch lost 6–7(3), 4–6 to Aoi Ito, ranked 361st. That looked like the end of her trip to China, but a place opened up in the draw and she was given a second chance.

On Monday she made the most of it. She beat Sawangkaew 6–3, 7–6(5) in about two hours, though the win did not come easily. Fręch had to save five break points and only settled the second set in a tiebreak.

Second meeting, first on a hard court

Świątek and Fręch have played each other only once, in 2022 on clay in Warsaw. Świątek dropped just three games that day and won 6–1, 6–2. On Wednesday they meet on a hard court for the first time. Świątek will be the favourite, but Fręch has already shown in Wuhan that she can get herself out of trouble.

The winner goes through to the third round. If it is Świątek, she could face Kalinskaya there. Meanwhile, fourth seed Noskova, the 2026 Wimbledon champion, has pulled out of the tournament with a calf injury.

The race to Indian Wells

Świątek arrived in Wuhan after losing in the Beijing quarter-finals, where Mertens beat her 7–6, 6–3 on 9 October. In the season ranking that decides the WTA Finals line-up she is 10th with 3,809 points. She is 816 points behind Muchová in seventh (4,625), and eight players qualify for the Finals at Indian Wells on 8–15 November. That makes Wuhan especially important for her: the winner of the tournament collects 1,000 points and $665,000.

There is also plenty of talk about her coaching team. On Monday Świątek responded to reports that Francisco Roig could be dismissed. "Francisco has a great plan for my game," she said, as quoted by WP SportoweFakty.

Three Poles in the draw

Maja Chwalińska is also still in Wuhan. On Tuesday morning she beat Mayar Sherif 6–3, 6–2 on Court 3, and in the second round, also on Wednesday, she plays Marie Bouzková. Linette went out in qualifying, so three Poles remain in the tournament. After Wednesday there will be two at most, because Świątek and Fręch have been drawn against each other.

When and where to watch

Świątek v Fręch is on Canal+ Sport 2 in Poland. The start time has not been confirmed: live-score services have shown different times, so it is best to wait for the official order of play.