Four return points — Maja Chwalinska ends Iga Swiatek's Wuhan run 7-5, 6-1

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Four return points. That is all Iga Swiatek won on the Maja Chwalinska serve in the second set of their Wuhan semifinal — 4 against 15 — and it is the number that explains everything that followed: 7-5, 6-1, six games for Swiatek, thirteen for Chwalinska, 60 points to 74.

The first set was a real fight. Swiatek actually won more points on return, 26 to 17, and generated eight break-point chances. Her serve never matched it: 18 service points won, one double fault, five break points against her. Chwalinska saved six of those eight, broke three times, and closed the set 7-5 without a single double fault.

The second set was no fight at all. Service points finished level, 12-12, but the return numbers collapsed: 4-15 for Chwalinska. Swiatek served three double faults, saved two of five break points and lost serve three times without earning one break point of her own. Chwalinska faced zero break chances and took it 6-1.

Chwalinska built the win on her first serve. She landed 57 of 72, a 79 percent clip, and won 35 first-serve points; Swiatek landed 63 percent and won 21. Her match card: two aces, zero double faults, six breaks converted, six of eight break points saved. All eight break points she faced came in the opening set. Swiatek's card: no aces, four double faults, two breaks from ten chances.

No tiebreaks, no ambiguity: thirteen games to six, one serve box nearly spotless, the other leaking from the first game to the last.