US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka continues her winning streak at the Wuhan Open, adding her nineteenth consecutive victory. 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 includes titles won in Wuhan in 2018, 2019, and 2024, demonstrating her dominance in the competition. Iga Swiatek, ranked second, also advanced in the tournament. Swiatek secured a victory over Belinda Bencic with a score of 7-6 (2), 6-4. This triumph extends her favorable record over Bencic to 5-1, including a straight-sets victory in the Wimbledon semifinals in July. In the next round, Sabalenka will face Elena Rybakina, who, seeking to secure her participation in the WTA Finals event in Saudi Arabia, defeated Linda Noskova with a score of 6-3, 6-4. Swiatek’s rival in the quarterfinals will be Jasmine Paolini, who advanced in the tournament after Clara Tauson retired when she was losing 3-6, 6-1, 3-1. Jessica Pegula also secured her place in the quarterfinals, after overcoming a complicated start in the third set to defeat Ekaterina Alexandrova with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Pegula, who was a semifinalist at the China Open last week, tied the decisive set at 2-2 and then won four of the last five games to secure the victory. Pegula’s victory over Alexandrova comes a day after she needed seven match points to defeat Hailey Baptiste in the second round. This was Pegula’s sixth consecutive three-set match, and the fifth time she emerged victorious.
In the last match of the day, Coco Gauff, after her defeat in the semifinals 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. But I’ve been competing very hard and I’ve been playing against a lot of really good players. The conditions today were different with the roof closed, and I think it took us a while to adapt.
Jessica Pegula
