Pegula and Gauff Advance in the Wuhan Open; Osaka Surprised
In a day full of emotions at the Wuhan Open, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff managed to advance to the next round, while Naomi Osaka suffered an unexpected defeat. Jessica Pegula, seeded number 6, showed her grit by defeating her compatriot Hailey Baptiste in a tight third-set tiebreak, with a final score of 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6). Pegula needed seven match points to secure her victory and advance to the third round. In the next phase, Pegula will face the ninth seed, Ekaterina Alexandrova, who previously defeated Ann Li with a score of 7-6 (5), 6-2. Coco Gauff, seeded number 3, had a dominant performance by defeating Moyuka Uchijima with a resounding 6-1, 6-0 in just 51 minutes, demonstrating her excellent form. The surprise of the day was delivered by Linda Noskova, who eliminated Naomi Osaka, the eleventh seed, with a score of 7-6 (2), 6-3. The young Czech player, who comes from losing in the final of the China Open, demonstrated her potential by defeating one of the favorites. In other notable results, Liudmila Samsonova achieved a comeback to defeat Sofia Kenin with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Furthermore, Kateřina Siniaková also secured her place in the next round by defeating Maya Joint with a score of 6-3, 6-1. In the third round, Samsonova will face Aryna Sabalenka, the current US Open champion, who defeated Rebecca Sramkova with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Sabalenka, who has had an excellent performance in Wuhan, will seek to continue her winning streak. Sabalenka, who has won titles in Wuhan in 2018, 2019 and 2024, expressed her satisfaction at returning to competition and her desire to go all the way in the tournament.In another match, Karolina Muchova was forced to retire from her match due to the heat and humidity, while losing against Magdalena Frech with a score of 7-6 (1), 4-1.“I knew that after that little break… it wouldn’t be so easy to get back into my rhythm. I’m very happy to have found my game in the second set and to have advanced, and I think I played very well. I’m very happy to be back. I’ve won many tournaments in China. It feels like home in this stadium and I really hope I can go all the way”.
Aryna Sabalenka
