Sonay Kartal maintains the edge against Maja Chwalinska as both unlikely finalists came through a series of upsets.
Match News and Form
Sonay Kartal played arguably her most epic match of the week against Jelena Ostapenko in the semifinals. The world No. 170 saved three set points in both the first and second sets to defeat the Latvian, 7-6, 7-6, and surge into her second career final and the first above WTA 250 level.
Kartal has been upsetting players all week long, including dismissing ninth seed Belinda Bencic, 15th seed Jasmine Paolini and fifth seed Elina Svitolina. The Brit must not have expected such a result in Wuhan after missing seven months of play, spoiling an exceptionally strong start to the season.
Maja Chwalinska caused one of the biggest upsets of the week when she defeated Iga Swiatek, 7-5, 6-1, in the semifinals, taking advantage of her compatriot's leg injury. This is a further illustration of her wildly rollercoaster season, which includes a runner-up finish at Roland Garros as a qualifier.
Chwalinska, ranked in the 140s at the start of the year, struggled to back up her Paris success and landed in Asia having won only one match in her last five tournaments. She reversed the course with a semifinal in Singapore and has now beaten Iva Jovic and Maria Sakkari for a WTA 1000 final.
Head to Head
This will be their first meeting.
Stats and Facts
Sonay Kartal defeated Rebecca Sramkova in the final to win her only WTA title at Monastir in 2024.
Kartal extends her winning streak against top-50 players to six matches. Nine of her last 11 top-50 wins have come in China.
Maja Chwalinska lost to Mirra Andreeva in her first and only tour-level final at Roland Garros this summer.
Chwalinska has lost nine matches to outside-top-100 players this season across all levels.
Betting Analysis
Neither player would have expected herself to reach the Wuhan final at the start of the campaign. This will be an open-ended final, with Sonay Kartal having slightly more self-belief compared to Maja Chwalinska, who generally does not play her best tennis on hard courts.
