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Aryna Sabalenka extends Wuhan winning streak to 20 matches

Oct 10, 2025, 06:28 AM ET

WUHAN, China — Aryna Sabalenka extended her winning streak at Wuhan to 20 matches with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Elena Rybakina on Friday to reach the semifinals of the WTA 1000-level tournament.

The US Open champion won the Wuhan Open title in 2018, ’19 and again last year on her return to the Chinese city.

Top-ranked Sabalenka broke Rybakina’s serve three times in the 1-hour, 25-minute match to advance into the semifinals for the 11th time this season, and then waved and blew kisses to the crowd.

It was also comfortable for third-seeded Coco Gauff, who cruised into a second straight semifinal with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Laura Siegemund.

The American lost to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova in the final four at the China Open last week.

Gauff will next face either No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek or Jasmine Paolini, who were playing in the late match.

Sabalenka will play sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula, who earlier Friday went to a third set for a seventh consecutive match. She dropped the first set against Katerina Siniakova before reeling through the next two for a 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory.

Pegula is coming off wins over No. 9 Ekaterina Alexandrova and fellow American Hailey Baptiste, when she needed seven match points to clinch the win.

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Wuhan Open: Aryna Sabalenka extends tournament winning streak to 20 matches

According to statisticians Opta,, external Sabalenka is the fourth female player to win their first 20 main draw matches in a single WTA level event since 1990 after Monica Seles at the Australian Open (33-0), Steffi Graf in Leipzig (25-0) and Caroline Wozniacki in New Haven (20-0).

Sabalenka, who retained her US Open title in September, controlled the match against Rybakina, sealing the first set with a hold before breaking the Kazakh’s serve in the first game of the second.

Despite a few service wobbles in the closing stages, Sabalenka took a comfortable win to set up the match with Pegula – a player against whom she has won eight of her 10 meetings.

Asked about her consecutive wins at the tournament, four-time major winner Sabalenka said she feels a “really great connection” with the fans in China.

“I feel at home every time playing here. Honestly, that’s just crazy,” she said.

Sixth seed Pegula was a set down against Siniakova before fighting back to take the second set unchallenged. She then clinched the third set for her 50th win of the season, boosting her chances of qualifying for next month’s season-ending WTA Finals.

Pegula’s last seven matches have all gone to three sets, with the world number six losing just one of them. “I guess I’m in really good shape,” she said.

American Gauff, seeded third, converted five of eight break points against German Siegemund, and has only dropped nine games across three rounds in Wuhan so far.

The French Open champion and world number three, who was defeated by Amanda Anisimova in the China Open semi-finals last week, faces seventh seed Paolini next.

Italian Paolini, ranked eighth in the world, had lost her previous six matches against Poland’s Swiatek, but the 29-year-old took just 26 minutes to secure the opening set against the second seed on her way to a memorable victory.

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Wuhan Open 2025: Aryna Sabalenka beats Rebecca Sramkova in first match since US Open triumph

Aryna Sabalenka overcame a rusty start in Wuhan as she fought back to beat Rebecca Sramkova in her first appearance since winning the US Open.

The world number one secured her first Grand Slam trophy of the year in New York, retaining her title as she defeated Amanda Anisimova in the final.

But in her first match for over a month, Sabalenka’s game was initially riddled with errors and she struggled with the power of Slovakia’s Sramkova, ranked 68th in the world.

However, after losing the first set she settled into her game in the second set before steamrolling through the third to wrap up a 4-6 6-3 6-1 victory.

“I knew it would be not easy after the break [following the US Open] to get into my rhythm but I am glad in the second set I found my game, I stepped in and I played really great,” Sabalenka said.

“I have to say she played incredible tennis, especially in the first set and there was not much I could do.”

Sabalenka is the three-time defending champion in Wuhan, having won in 2018 and 2019, and again in 2024 following the tournament’s three-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Asked what it was like to be nicknamed the “Daughter of Wuhan”, Sabalenka replied: “First I was ‘Daughter of China’, then ‘Queen of Fried Rice’ [a nickname she says is in honour of her love of the dish].

“And then I talked to [China’s world number 10 Zheng] Qinwen and they actually call me ‘Tiger’. So many nicknames.

“I won so many tournaments here and it feels like home, I hope I can go all the way.”

Given a bye to the second round, Sabalenka cut a frustrated figure as she struggled with her serve, with a handful of double faults handing Sramkova an early break.

The Slovak played Sabalenka at her own game, beating the top seed with deep, aggressive hitting to the baseline and huge serves as she took the opener 6-4.

But Sabalenka eventually regained some rhythm to strike first in the second set and she fended off several break points to open up a 5-2 lead on her way to forcing a decider.

With more momentum behind her, the four-time major champion took control in the third set, breaking twice and saving four more break points at 5-1 before securing the victory with another break of serve.

Earlier, Coco Gauff breezed into the third round with a 51-minute win against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, who won just five points on the American third seed’s serve.

Sixth seed Jessica Pegula avoided an upset in the second round, winning 6-4 4-6 7-6 (8-6) after converting her seventh match point in a gruelling two hour and 55 minute encounter with fellow American and world number 55 Hailey Baptiste.

Pegula will face Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova next, while Gauff will play Shuai Zhang, the world number 142 who beat Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

Meanwhile, the heat and humidity continued to cause problems for some players, with Czech 12th seed Karolina Muchova forced to retire while trailing 7-6 (7-1) 4-1 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech.

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