Yastremska, 19, upsets Pliskova

Wuhan, China: Ukrainian teen Dayana Yastremska scored the first top-10 win of her career at the Wuhan Open on Wednesday 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. Barty booked her ticket to the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 7-5 success over recently-crowned Guangzhou champion Sofia Kenin, and takes on Croatian Petra Martic on Thursday.