Pegula and Gauff Advance in the Wuhan Open; Osaka Surprised
In an emotional day at the Wuhan Open, Jessica Pegula achieved a crucial victory and Coco Gauff demonstrated her dominance, while Naomi Osaka suffered a surprising defeat. Pegula, seeded number 6, defeated Hailey Baptiste in a close tiebreak with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6). The American tennis player needed seven match points to secure her place in the third round of the tournament. In the next phase, Pegula will face Ekaterina Alexandrova, the ninth seed, who previously defeated Ann Li with scores of 7-6 (5), 6-2. For her part, Coco Gauff, after her recent participation in the China Open, where she reached the semifinals, demonstrated her superiority by defeating Moyuka Uchijima with a resounding 6-1, 6-0 in just 51 minutes. The surprise of the day was delivered by Linda Noskova, who eliminated Naomi Osaka with a score of 7-6 (2), 6-3. The young Czech tennis player, 20 years old, had come from losing in the final of the China Open. Noskova, now in 17th place in the ranking, will face Jaqueline Cristian or Elena Rybakina in her next match. Liudmila Samsonova also advanced after defeating Sofia Kenin with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. In the third round, Samsonova will face Aryna Sabalenka, current US Open champion. Kateřina Siniaková, coming from the qualifying phase, defeated Maya Joint with a score of 6-3, 6-1. Aryna Sabalenka, world number one, demonstrated her power by defeating Rebecca Sramkova with scores of 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Sabalenka seeks to maintain her winning streak in Wuhan, where she has won titles in 2018, 2019, and 2024.Karolina Muchova retired from her match against Magdalena Frech due to the heat and humidity, when she was losing 7-6 (1), 4-1.I knew that after that little break… it wouldn’t be easy to get back into my rhythm. I’m very happy that in the second set I found my game and got into it, 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
