Jasmine Paolini sends immediate message to Clara Tauson after she retires from their match in China

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Jasmine Paolini is through to another quarterfinal, this time in Wuhan, after Clara Tauson was forced to retire from the match.

Last week, Paolini saw her run end at the last eight stage, with the rampant Amanda Anisimova beating her in three sets.

Paolini is still on course for a place in the WTA Finals next month, and reaching the latter stages here would certainly aid her bid.

It’s been a strong period for Paolini, who was praised for her part in helping Italy win the Billie Jean King Cup last month.

Now, Paolini has sent a classy message to her opponent after she was forced to concede defeat, trailing 3-1 in the third set.

• READ MORE: Top tennis coach hails Jasmine Paolini

Jasmine Paolini sends message to Clara Tauson after beating her at the Wuhan Open

It’s never nice when players have to retire from matches but for whatever reason, the Danish performer Tauson couldn’t continue on this occasion.

It’s been a pretty miserable Asian swing for the world number 12, who won just one match at the Korea Open after losing at the first hurdle in China.

In Wuhan, she came through two matches, but against Paolini, she was forced to admit defeat, despite taking the first set against the Italian player.

After the match, the Italian said on court: “First of all, I’m so sorry for her. She was playing amazing tennis. I was struggling a lot. Hopefully, she recovers soon. What can I say? I was just thinking of staying there at every point. She was really hitting winners everywhere. It was tough today. But I stayed there all the time.”

How the WTA race to Riyadh currently looks

For Tauson, any lingering hopes that she had of making the event have now evaporated into the Wuhan air.

As for Paolini, however, she is now very much in the mix to make the WTA Finals, with the person directly ahead of her, Mirra Andreeva, already out of the Wuhan Open.

Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Amanda Anisimova and Coco Gauff have all confirmed their places at the tournament, with Jessica Pegula set to join them too.

With Paolini bang in form right now, there does feel like a genuine chance she could make it, and if she does, she will provide the big players with a very stern test at the competition.