World number one Ash Barty fended off a late comeback attempt by American Sofia Kenin to reach the Wuhan Open quarter-finals yesterday, while second seed Karolina Pliskova was knocked out in straight sets by Ukrainian teenager Dayana Yastremska.
After cruising through the first set without any trouble, Barty fought back from a break down in the next, saving two set points to overcome Kenin 6-3, 7-5 for her third win over the 20-year-old Guangzhou champion in four meetings this season.
Next up for the Australian top seed will be Croatia’s Petra Martic who defeated qualifier Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-1.
World number two Pliskova’s hopes of dethroning Barty as world number one by the end of the week ended with a 6-1, 6-4 defeat by Yastremska.
The unseeded 19-year-old did not drop serve and smashed 26 winners past her Czech opponent for the first top 10 victory of her career.
Yastremska next faces another Czech top 10 opponent in Petra Kvitova, who advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Sloane Stephens — her first win over the former US Open champion.
Wimbledon champion Simona Halep was forced to retire from her match against wildcard Elena Rybakina while trailing 5-4 in the first set after feeling sharp pain in her back.
The Romanian had suffered a herniated disk late last year which ruled her out of the season-ending WTA Finals.
“It’s a lower back (injury). I think it’s more muscle, but I don’t know yet because I didn’t check it properly,” the fourth seed told reporters.
“At four-all, 0-30, with the backhand... I had a sharp pain. I don’t know yet (if it is the same as the previous injury). It looks a little bit different but it’s still the same zone.”
Rybakina will next face Belarusian ninth seed Aryna Sabalenka who dispatched sixth-seeded Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens 6-1, 7-6(9).
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina beat Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 to stay on course to qualify for the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen where she will bid to retain her title.

Yastremska scores first major career win
Ukrainian teen Dayana Yastremska scored the first top-10 win of her career at the Wuhan Open yesterday over world number two Karolina Pliskova, declaring herself one of the young talents making a splash on tour this season.
In a year where 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu has won the US Open, and 15-year-old Cori Gauff has reached the second week at Wimbledon, Yastremska picked up two WTA titles and made the fourth round at SW19.
“They’re young but they’re also very good. There’s a lot of things I could learn from them as well,” Yastremska said of the players following her 6-1, 6-4 third-round victory against Pliskova.
“I’m really happy that now the young generation is coming up. It’s really time for us.”
But Pliskova was reserved in her judgment when asked about 19-year-old Yastremska’s potential, noting that performing at this level consistently can be challenging for many youngsters on the circuit.
“I think she’s still young, I think anything is possible. There were players who had great one year and they just disappeared, so I’m not sure about her,” said the Czech, who has a tour-leading 50 match-wins on tour this year. “Of course she can be dangerous because she can play well, but she can also have days where she’s missing a lot.”
Pliskova’s exit temporarily takes the pressure off world number one Ashleigh Barty, who can hold onto her top ranking for at least one more week now that her nearest rival was unable to reach the semi-finals in Wuhan.
“I know I was close, but I don’t care,” said Pliskova of missing out on the number one spot this week.
Meanwhile, third-seeded Elina Svitolina said she is happy to have put her early-season woes behind her as she secured passage to the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 rout of Russian qualifier Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Svitolina — a 13-time WTA titlist — is yet to capture a trophy in 2019 but has broken through on the Grand Slam stage, reaching back-to-back semi-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. “Before I reached the semi-final of Wimbledon, I was very upset with the season. I didn’t start bad, but I was like, ‘Okay, what’s going on? The only thing I gain was probably the weight’,” she said yesterday.
“Semi-final Wimbledon, it gave me just a little push mentally.”
Svitolina’s next test comes in the form of American world number 35 Alison Riske, who maintained her clean record against home favourite Wang Qiang with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph.
Two-time Wuhan champion Petra Kvitova closed out play yesterday, beating 10th-seeded Sloane Stephens for the first time, 6-3, 6-3, to set up a quarter-final showdown with Yastremska.