Pegula and Gauff Advance in the Wuhan Open; Osaka Surprised
In a day full of emotions at the Wuhan Open, Jessica Pegula achieved a hard-fought victory and Coco Gauff demonstrated her dominance on the court. However, the surprise came from Linda Noskova by defeating Naomi Osaka. Jessica Pegula, the sixth seed, overcame Hailey Baptiste in a tight tiebreak, after having been broken twice when serving for the match in the third set. Pegula won 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) on her seventh match point, securing her place in the third round. In the next phase, Pegula will face Ekaterina Alexandrova, the ninth seed, who defeated Ann Li with a score of 7-6 (5), 6-2. Coco Gauff, the third seed, had no trouble advancing, defeating Moyuka Uchijima with a decisive 6-1, 6-0 in just 51 minutes. The surprise of the tournament was the defeat of Naomi Osaka, eleventh seed, against Linda Noskova, who won 7-6 (2), 6-3. Noskova, 20 years old, had been defeated in the final of the China Open the previous Sunday. Noskova, currently ranked 17th, will face Jaqueline Cristian or Elena Rybakina in her next match. Liudmila Samsonova, the sixteenth seed, also achieved a comeback victory against Sofia Kenin, with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. For her part, Kateřina Siniaková, coming from the qualifying phase, defeated Maya Joint 6-3, 6-1. In the third round, Samsonova will face Aryna Sabalenka, US Open champion, who defeated Rebecca Sramkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Sabalenka, world number one, has had an impressive performance in Wuhan, with a record of 18-0 and titles in 2018, 2019 and 2024. After winning the US Open, she took a break and withdrew from the China Open last week.Sabalenka broke her opponent, ranked 68th, in the first game of the final set and converted her second match point to win in almost two hours. Sramkova, who broke Sabalenka’s serve twice to win the first set, saw Sabalenka react with a break in the fourth game of the second set, taking a 4-1 lead. Sabalenka saved four break points in the seventh game. Karolina Muchova became the latest player to retire due to the heat and humidity, abandoning her match while trailing against Magdalena Frech 7-6 (1), 4-1.I knew that after that little break… it wouldn’t be easy to get my rhythm back. I’m very happy that I found my game in the second set and stepped up, and I think I played really well. I’m super 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
