China's No.1 player Wang Qiang has become the first Chinese woman to advance to the quarterfinals of Wuhan Open in history.
The wildcard entry, Wang Qiang took out Australian No. 33 Daria Gavrilova in straight sets 7-5, 6-2, following her win over No.7 Karolina Pliskova in the second round.
Wang and Gavrilova traded breaks in the first set fighting to 5-all before a break allowed Wang to power past the Australian, who suffered five double-faults on the way to losing the set.
"Well, it was a great match, a great performance," Wang said later. "I have more confidence in myself on court."
Wang Qiang celebrates winning over Daria Gavrilova of Australia. /VCG Photo
Wang goes on to face world No. 50 and 2016 Rio gold medalist Monica Puig, who won over No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki.
Wang has now won 13 consecutive matches on home soil. Before her trip to Wuhan, she played three tournaments in China's Shenzhen, Nanchang and Guangzhou, winning two of the three competitions.
However, another Chinese player Zhang Shuai fell to Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Kontaveit goes on to face Katerina Sinakova who took out world No. 14 Garbine Muguruza.
(With input from Xinhua)