Sabalenka Soars To Third Straight Wuhan Title, Tops Zheng

Aryna Sabalenka resumed her dominance at the Wuhan 1000 event winning the title for a third straight time, Sunday topping Chinese star Qinwen Zheng 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

Sabalenka won Wuhan in 2018 and 2019 before COVID shut the event down for four years before returning this week.

Now 17-0 at Wuhan, Sabalenka has 17 career titles and five in China with two coming over Zheng including the Australian Open at the start of the year.

“First of all I would say the conditions are probably a little bit better for her here,” Sabalenka said to the WTA. “It’s much slower and the ball’s getting heavier. She has more things to do on the court when it’s slower.

“Honestly, I felt like I just lost little bit focus and I let her come back in the match. I got a little bit frustrated there. It became a three-set match. Balls are getting heavier, it’s third set, a bit emotional.”

Sabalenka rallied from a set down in the semifinals against Coco Gauff while Zheng beat Jasmine Paolini and then Xinyu Wang in the semifinals.

“She forced me to see some of the weaknesses in my tactics,” Zheng said. “I really look forward to training. I look forward to the next match against her.

“After this loss, I’m feeling excited because I am doing better each time. There’s more room for improvement. I hope that I can close the gap and also can overcome this challenge.”

Sabalenka regained the No. 1 spot in the 2024 Race, but her and Iga Swiatek are about 800 points apart for the year-end top spot.

“Really tight ranking right now,” Sabalenka said. “Really nice to see. I always say of course it’s one of the goals, but I prefer focus on myself and just keep working hard. We’ll see after the Finals if I was good enough this season to become World No. 1.”