Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka, current US Open champion, continues her winning streak at the Wuhan Open, extending it to 19 matches after defeating Liudmila Samsonova with a score of 6-3, 6-2 this Thursday. With this victory, Sabalenka advances to the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament. This impressive streak by Sabalenka includes titles won in Wuhan in 2018, 2019, and 2024, solidifying her dominance in this prestigious tournament. Iga Swiatek, world number two, also secured her place in the next round, after defeating Belinda Bencic with scores of 7-6 (2), 6-4. Swiatek improves her record against Bencic to 5-1, including a straight-sets victory in the Wimbledon semi-finals in July. In the quarterfinals, Sabalenka will face Elena Rybakina, the eighth seed, who achieved a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Linda Noskova. Rybakina seeks to secure her place in the WTA Finals event to be held in Saudi Arabia. For her part, Swiatek will face Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals, after Paolini advanced following the retirement of Clara Tauson, who was at a disadvantage 3-6, 6-1, 3-1. In another notable match, Jessica Pegula came back from a difficult start in the third set to defeat Ekaterina Alexandrova with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, securing her place in the quarterfinals. Pegula, the sixth seed, had lost in the semifinals of the China Open the previous week. The victory over Alexandrova, number 9, came a day after Pegula needed seven match points to overcome Hailey Baptiste in the second round. This was Pegula’s sixth consecutive match decided in three sets, being the fifth time she has achieved victory in this situation.
In the last match of the day, Coco Gauff, number 3, defeated Zhang Shuai with a score of 6-3, 6-2. Gauff came from losing in the semifinals of the China Open the previous week against Amanda Anisimova, who later became champion.I don’t remember the last time I played two sets. But I’ve been competing very hard and I’ve played against very good players. Today the conditions were different with the roof closed, and I think it took us a while to adjust.
Jessica Pegula
