US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka continues her winning streak at the Wuhan Open, adding her nineteenth consecutive victory by defeating Liudmila Samsonova with a score of 6-3, 6-2 this Thursday. This triumph secures her a place in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament.
Sabalenka’s impressive streak, who holds the top spot in the ranking, includes titles won in Wuhan in the years 2018, 2019, and 2024.
Iga Swiatek, ranked second, also advanced to the next phase after defeating Belinda Bencic with a score of 7-6 (2), 6-4. Swiatek improves her personal record against Bencic to 5-1, including a straight-sets victory in the Wimbledon semifinals in July.
In the quarterfinals, Sabalenka will face Elena Rybakina, who, after defeating Linda Noskova with a score of 6-3, 6-4, seeks to secure her participation in the WTA Finals event to be held in Saudi Arabia.
For her part, Swiatek will face Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals, who managed to advance after Clara Tauson withdrew from the match, when the score was 3-6, 6-1, 3-1.
In other notable results, Jessica Pegula overcame 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, who holds the sixth position in the ranking, had lost in the semifinals of the China Open the previous week.
The victory over ninth-ranked Alexandrova 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, and the fifth time she achieved victory.
In the last match of the day, Coco Gauff, who came from losing in the semifinals of the China Open last week, defeated Zhang Shuai with a score of 6-3, 6-2.
