Wuhan - Svetlana Kuznetsova ousted defending champion Venus Williams 6-2, 6-2 to reach the Wuhan Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Kuznetsova dominated Williams from the outset, breaking the American five times. She improved to 5-4 against Williams.
Williams struggled with her serve in the gusty conditions and had seven double faults.
Simona Halep of Romania also advanced past Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3.
Halep, showing no sign of the hamstring injury that ruled her out of Tokyo last week, will face Madison Keys of the United States in the quarter-finals. Keys beat Russian qualifier Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.