The Queenslander sealed her landmark entry on Friday by earning one of the best wins of her career in Beijing over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
Hon, who came through two matches of qualifying at the start of the week, defeated the combustible Latvian star 6-3 6-2 after a woeful start to ensure that she'll reach a career-high spot when the next rankings are released following the WTA 1000 tournament.
Hon, who had won her first match in a 1000 tournament in the previous round against Viktorija Golubic, got off to a shocking start when she went 3-0 down in the opening set, but it only inspired her to take the next nine games and leave the 22nd seed reeling at Beijing's National Tennis Centre.
Ostapenko finally got a grip by winning the next two games and reduced the deficit to 3-2 in the second set, but the big-hitting Hon was not to be denied, breaking the Latvian two more times, including to love in the final game, to seal the win in an hour and 17 minutes.
The 27-year-old Brisbane player's victory will ensure she joins the top 100 for the first time, moving her up to No.95 in the live standings.
That means there's a chance of five Australian women being among the game's leading 100 in the next rankings, with Hon moving alongside Daria Kasatkina, Maya Joint, Kim Birrell and Ajla Tomljanovic.
But Tomljanovic has the tall order of having to win her last-32 match against world No.5 Jessica Pegula if she's to stay there.
Hon's terrific year featured her qualifying for Wimbledon for the first time, and she's now beaten six top-100 players over the last couple of months since then.
She'll next face No.15 seed Belinda Bencic in the third round after the Swiss former Olympic champion defeated American qualifier Katie Volynets 6-3 6-3.
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