Sabalenka overcomes Gauff to reach final and remain unbeaten in Wuhan
The Belarusian will face the winner of the all-Chinese semi-final between No 5 seed Qinwen Zheng and Xinyu Wang for the title
Aryna Sabalenka, US Open 2024
Image Credit: Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic
Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed, maintained her unbeaten run in Wuhan as the Belarusian advanced to the final for the third time in a row at the WTA 1000 Series event.
On Saturday, the reigning Australian and US Open champion found herself a set down against American Coco Gauff, who quickly won six of the first seven games to claim the first set 6-1.
The fourth seeded American, winner in Beijing last week, looked set to extend her winning streak to 10 matches as she went up 4-2 in the second before Sabalenka began her fightback.
The Belarusian won seven games on the trot, to claim the second set 6-4 and build a 3-0 lead in the decider. There was one more twist as Gauff fought back from 4-1 down in the decider to level the semi-final at 4-4 in the third.
Sabalenka then held serve to lead 5-4 and managed to break the Gauff serve on the American’s 21st double fault of the day to complete the 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center.
“It was really great battle, tough fight. Somehow I was able to turn around this match and to get this win. I’m really happy with this win. It was really important one. It was very difficult battle. I’m really glad and really happy that I was able to win this match,” Sabalenka said after her win.
“This tournament feels like playing at home” – Sabalenka
The win extends Sabalenka’s winning streak in Wuhan to 16 matches in a row, with the Belarusian winning the title in 2018 and 2019 before the tournament went off the calendar due to the pandemic and the WTA’s decision to not host events in China.
“This tournament feels like playing at home. Being the third time in the finals, hopefully I’ll get this beautiful trophy tomorrow. But no expectations on support from the crowd. I have my team. I have my family. I have a lot of people who support me around the world. I’ll just focus on that,” she added.
The victory also levels the head-to-head between the two players at 4-4 with the Belarusian winning both their clashes in 2024 now.
Despite all her success, Sabalenka, ranked No 2 in the world, will not be the crowd favourite on Sunday as she is guaranteed to face a local player for the title with No 5 seed Qinwen Zheng and Xinyu Wang facing off in the second semi-final.
The Belarusian won against Katerina Siniakova (6-4, 6-4), Kazakh Yulia Putintseva (1-6, 6-4, 6-0) and Pole Magdalena Frech (6-2, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the tournament.
Earlier in the week, Gauff, ranked No 4, beat Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova (6-1, 6-2), Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, the No 13 seed (6-4, 6-1) and Pole Magda Linette (6-0, 6-4).
Wuhan WTA 1000, other semi-final match (Optics Valley International Tennis Center, hard, USD 3,221,715):
- Qinwen Zheng vs. Xinyu Wang
