Coco Gauff continued the defence of her China Open title with a near three-hour-long victory over Leylah Fernandez, but Elena Rybakina was dumped out of the tournament.
Gauff beat 2021 US Open runner-up Fernandes 6-4 4-6 7-5 to reach the last 16, where she will face either Belinda Bencic or Priscilla Hon.
The Roland-Garros champion had never previously dropped a set to Fernandez, and when she took the opener before breaking at the outset of the second set, that record looked unlikely to be snapped.
However, Fernandez recovered that break immediately as the Canadian was rewarded for some front-foot tennis.
Gauff missed three opportunities to break again at 2-2, and Fernandez took her first set point against the American's serve at 5-4 up, forcing
a decider.
Then, all of a sudden, nerves seemed to get the better of both players on serve, with seven of the first eight games of set three being breaks. Gauff even squandered two opportunities to serve out the contest, including missing a match point in game eight.
But the two-time major champion recovered her composure in the final two games, forcing another hard-earned break then converting match point when she got to the net and forced Fernandez to strike the tape.
Title defense on track! @CocoGauff wins it 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 against Fernandez #2025ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/irHz3ZmlC1
— wta (@WTA) September 28, 2025
There was less luck for Rybakina, though, as the eighth seed was beaten 6-3 1-6 6-4 by Germany's Eva Lys.
The victory was Lys' first over a top-20 opponent, her first over a former grand slam champion, and it booked her first appearance in the fourth round of a WTA 1000 event.
She will face McCartney Kessler next, after two-time major winner Barbora Krejcikova retired in the deciding set of their third-round matchup.
Paula Badosa also retired early in her match against Karolina Muchova, while Jasmine Paolini cruised to an easy 6-3 6-0 win over Sofia Kenin.
Data Debrief: Landmarks for Gauff and Muchova
Gauff's victory was her 150th on hard courts at WTA-level events, and the 21-year-old is the youngest player to achieve that landmark since Caroline Wozniacki in 2011.
Muchova, meanwhile, is up to 50 wins at WTA 1000 events, in just 72 matches. Only Iga Swiatek (64), Victoria Azarenka (68), Venus Williams (69) and Rybakina (71) have ever reached that landmark in fewer attempts.
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