The tennis player Aryna Sabalenka, current US Open champion, continues her winning streak at the Wuhan Open. This Thursday, Sabalenka defeated Liudmila Samsonova with a score of 6-3, 6-2, securing her place in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament.Sabalenka’s impressive streak, which already totals 19 consecutive victories in this tournament, includes the titles won in Wuhan in 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 dominates Bencic in their head-to-head record, with a 5-1 record, 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 place in the WTA Finals event to be held in Saudi Arabia.Jasmine Paolini will be Swiatek’s rival in the quarterfinals, after Clara Tauson retired from the match, leaving the score at 3-6, 6-1, 3-1.In other notable results, Jessica Pegula achieved a comeback victory after an initial break in the third set, defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Pegula, who was a semifinalist at the China Open last week, managed to tie the decisive set 2-2 and won four of the last five games to secure her place in the quarterfinals.This victory over Alexandrova came a day after Pegula needed seven match points to beat Hailey Baptiste in the second round.For Pegula, this was her sixth consecutive match that went to three sets, and the fifth time she emerged victorious.
In the last match of the day, Coco Gauff, after her semi-final defeat against Amanda Anisimova at the China Open last week, defeated Zhang Shuai with a score of 6-3, 6-2.I don’t remember the last time I played two sets,” Pegula commented. “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 adapt.
Jessica Pegula
