Ann Li Needs 10 Match Points to Upset Sabalenka

Ann Li needed ten match points to take down the top seed. The American rallied past No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in two hours and 27 minutes on Wednesday at the Wuhan Open, the biggest win of Li's career and her first over Sabalenka in four tour meetings.

Li advances to the Round of 16 at a WTA 1000 for the fourth straight time, a personal best, and will face Janice Tjen next. Sabalenka, a three-time Wuhan champion, is out before the last four here for the first time.

Nine escapes, then the tenth

Sabalenka took the first set after winning eight straight points to close it, then led 4-2 in the second. Li flipped the match by winning nine of the next 11 games, forced a decider, and built a 5-2 lead in the third.

That is when Sabalenka refused to leave. She got a physio visit mid-set to re-tape her right leg, saved five match points to hold for 5-3, then erased two more at 5-4 with a forehand winner and a backhand winner to level at 5-5. A love hold later sent it to a tiebreak, where she fought off two more match points before Li finally sealed it with a forehand winner on match point No. 10.

"I think on some of those match points I was about to lose my mind. I was about to crash out," Li said. "In the end, you just have to realize -- I didn't even play that bad. I didn't play bad. She just played really well. So you have to play point by point. And I knew that if I stayed there, I could get into that situation again, which is all you can ask for."

What the win means

It is Li's third career Top 10 win and second this season, and her career-best win by ranking. Sabalenka finished with 44 unforced errors to Li's 28. Pegula also fell Wednesday, beaten by Jelena Ostapenko after saving three match points of her own, so Wuhan lost its top two seeds on the same day.

Li has lost all three of her previous WTA 1000 Round of 16 matches. She said she has practiced with Tjen and expects variety. "Physical wise, I feel pretty good," Li said.

The path ahead

Third-round play is Thursday in Wuhan, with the final set for Sunday, Oct. 18. Sabalenka is already locked into the WTA Finals, so this exit is about form, not qualification. For Li, it is a career marker and a real shot at her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

Tennis fans love a player who keeps creating match points until one sticks. Li just did it ten times against the top seed. Now she has to do it again against Tjen without needing another double-digit count.