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Tennis

Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff advance, Naomi Osaka out in Wuhan

Jessica Pegula was twice broken while serving for the match in the third set but recovered to edge Hailey Baptiste in a tight tiebreaker Wednesday and advance at the Wuhan Open.

Sixth-seeded Pegula beat her fellow American 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) on her seventh match point to reach the third round.

Pegula, who lost in the China Open semifinals last week, will next play ninth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova, who beat American Ann Li 7-6 (5), 6-2.

No. 3 Coco Gauff, coming off a semifinal loss to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova at the China Open, breezed into the next round with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Moyuka Uchijima in 51 minutes.

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No. 11 Naomi Osaka was upset by unseeded Linda Noskova 7-6 (2), 6-3. The 20-year-old Czech player was defeated by Anisimova in the final of the China Open on Sunday.

Noskova, ranked 17th, will next face either Jaqueline Cristian or Elena Rybakina.

No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova rallied to beat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, and qualifier KateÅina Siniaková beat Maya Joint 6-3, 6-1.

In the third round, Samsonova will face US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Rebecca Sramkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

The top-ranked Sabalenka has had an amazing run in Wuhan. Her record is 18-0 while winning titles in 2018, 2019 and 2024. She took a Greek holiday after her second consecutive win at Flushing Meadows and withdrew from last week’s China Open, another WTA 1000-level event.

“I knew after that little break … it will be not that easy to get back in my rhythm. I’m really glad that in the second set I found my game and stepped in, and I think I played really great,” Sabalenka said. “I’m super happy to be back. I’ve won a lot of tournaments in China. It feels like home in this stadium, and I really hope I can go all the way.”

Sabalenka broke her 68th-ranked opponent in the opening game of the final set and converted her second match point to win in almost two hours.

After Sramkova broke Sabalenka twice to take the opening set, Sabalenka started her rally with a break in the fourth game of the second set and jumped to a 4-1 lead. She saved four break points in the seventh game.

Karolina Muchova became the latest player to succumb to the heat and humidity, withdrawing from her match while trailing Magdalena Frech 7-6 (1), 4-1.

The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.

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Tennis

Emma Raducanu fails to take match points in defeat by Jessica Pegula at China Open

Emma Raducanu again failed to take three match points as she was beaten 6-3 6-7 (9-11) 6-0 by Jessica Pegula in a hard-fought last-32 tie at the China Open.

The British number one, who lost to Barbora Krejcikova in similar fashion earlier this month, faded in a match that lasted two hours and 21 minutes.

Meanwhile, fellow Briton Sonay Kartal advanced to the round of 16 after beating Maya Joint in Beijing.

Raducanu, ranked 32 in the world, took the first set against world number seven Pegula before both players wrestled for control in the second – the usually composed American giving a shout of frustration and throwing her racquet to the floor in the fifth game.

Pegula went on to save two break points before a dramatic tie-break in which she saved three match points – two with backhand winners and the other on Raducanu’s serve – then dominated in the third set.

“It was a crazy match, ” said Pegula, who will meet Marta Kostyuk in the last 16 after she beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4 6-2.

“That was really intense. I got myself back into the tie-break and just wanted to keep the pressure on.

“To be honest, I think I got a little bit lucky on two of those where I hit those two backhand winners but, other than that I just tried to keep fighting for as long as I could.”

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