Aryna Sabalenka has won the last three iterations of the Wuhan Open in a row and shows no signs in letting up in her quest for the Year End No.1 spot. She saw off Qinwen Zheng in the final on Sunday morning in a superb win 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 Sabalenka was well known for many years for her prowess in this tournament mainly as a calling card before her success came in winning Grand Slam titles.
The last two weeks in losing to Karolina Muchova in the Quarter-Finals and now defeating Qinwen Zheng in the final in Beijing qand Wuhan are fairly ominous too for the US Open champion. She went through a similar streak heading into New York in losing matches before the final and then suddenly went on a hot streak so almost building herself back into the action.
Ahead of the WTA Finals in particular to come with all focus now on that, it is very much one that she will go into as the favourite retrospective to her rivals who have barely played. While Swiatek sits as World No.1 still, her days are numbered and Sabalenka has proven that.
In facing Qinwen, she also took on a vociferous home crowd who were trying their best to will their local hero over the line. While Qinwen wasn’t born in Wuhan, she trained there as a child before moving to Barcelona to train so it is very much the courts she grew up on.
Amid her battle to make it to Riyadh, she has performed in front of her home crowd while many of the top names have floundered and not performed. Emma Navarro of course being her main rival for that last spot has not won much since New York and a big week awaits in Ningbo for that final spot. Albeit it is one that Qinwen continues to make her own.
The opening set saw Qinwen hold her own in the early exchanges with both getting off to dominant starts. But Sabalenka edged the early exchanges and broke serve for 4-2 and headed towards the opening set fairly quickly. But the Chinese ace pushed back. In the second set, she recovered a break and had four break points to lead 4-2. But Sabalenka saved them all as Zheng held for 4-3.
Sabalenka then lost her serve potentially handing the impetus to her opponent or so we thought as the Belarusian hit back to make it 5-5 and it seemed like the second set was poised into a tie-break scenario.
Albeit Qinwen finally sealed a set against Sabalenka instead to force it into a final set. Sabalenka again seemed to be surging towards the win serving for it at 5-2 up. But she had to wait with Qinwen breaking back to prolong the tie. But finally Sabalenka sealed it. It is a fourth title of the year for Sabalenka and she looks certain for Year End No.1.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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