It was the fourth-ranked Gauff's eighth consecutive win on the WTA Tour's Asian swing after winning the China Open last week, which moved her back into the top five in the rankings.
Gauff broke the Ukrainian's serve five times — for the loss of one of her own — as she clinched a one-sided match in just over an hour on Thursday and extended her lead in their head-to-head series to 3-1.
"It was a pretty straightforward match," Gauff said.
"Marta and I always have some good battles. Today I was able to get through in straight sets."
Next for Gauff is 45th-ranked Magda Linette, who continued her impressive form this week by beating eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina 6-2 6-3.
"We haven't played since (the US Open in 2021)," Gauff said of Linette.Â
"... She's been playing a great couple of matches here in Wuhan. I expect it to be a tough match."
Gauff will be the only American left in the draw after third-ranked Jessica Pegula and tour rookie Hailey Baptiste both lost.
Pegula, the US Open finalist, had a tough afternoon against the 51st-ranked Wang Xinyu of China, who clinched a 6-3 7-5 win to make her first WTA 1000 quarter-final.
A first WTA 1000 quarterfinal coming up for Wang Xinyu �— wta (@WTA) #WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/uDs8m4dbQkOctober 10, 2024
Wang had won their only previous meeting in three sets in the second round at Wimbledon earlier this year.
After her first win over a top 10 player in the previous round, Baptiste was routed 6-1 6-1 by Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The 22-year-old was broken six times by the No.33-ranked Russian who clinched her last-eight berth against Wang in 63 minutes.
Later, second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka looks to maintain her undefeated record at the Wuhan Open when she plays Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in her third-round match.
A win for the Belarusian will allow her to regain top spot in the rankings from Poland's Iga Swiatek, who is absent form the women's tour Asian swing citing personal reasons and fatigue.
Sabalenka, the reigning US Open champion, is 13-0 in Wuhan after winning the title on her first appearance in 2018 and defending her crown in 2019 before the tournament took a five-year hiatus from the calendar due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
6°C