Wuhan Open Round-Up: Aryna Sabalenka cruises past Elena Rybakina as Jessica Pegula again through the hard way

Again it was the tale of two halves on Friday at the Wuhan Open with Jessica Pegula again the subject of a destiny that sees her embroiled in real battles to the end while Aryna Sabalenka again cruised through in the tie seen as game of the day.

Pegula has had six three set wins in seven consecutive matches in the past few weeks which begs the question, how far can she go playing like this and not getting a straight sets win. She saw off qualifier Katerina Siniakova 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 on Friday and is into the semi-finals in Wuhan for the first time.

That pretty remarkable stat is certainly not a world beater but also it is a pretty incredible indictment of Pegula's fighting grit and spirit that she manages to grind out the result even with her back against the wall. On Friday, she dropped the first set 6-2 in just over 30 minutes as it looked like she had hit a wall after over 15 hours on court in the last 13 days.

But if you're writing Pegula off do so at your peril. She managed to rally and find the goods. She stormed through the second set in just 23 minutes delivering a bagel to force a decider. She broke serve in the final set after a pretty back and forth start on their respective serves. She consolidated for 4-2 and she was forced to save break points from there at 4-3 up against the Czech ace in a part of the match that could've changed the complexion of the whole tie. But she stayed firm including in trying to win the match.

She turned the tables and after going 40-0 down, she flipped it round just like she did the first set into the second and broke to win.

Even Pegula is pretty befuddled at how she is doing it. “I don’t know,” Pegula said after the match. “I guess I’m in really good shape. I definitely don’t think I need to play anymore matches or work on any physical stuff because I’ve been able to battle through these matches and play really well. But yeah, I don’t know.

“I’m happy I’ve been able to figure things out. Obviously, I wish maybe it was more straightforward for my mental and physical sake, but if I win every match for the rest of my life in three sets, I think I’d be pretty happy.”

While Aryna Sabalenka is the complete opposite as she made light work of Elena Rybakina. A match that perhaps out of all of them in the Quarter-Finals was most captivating for a few reasons given that Rybakina won their last meeting so comfortably.

She won in Cincinnati 6-1, 6-4 only just over a month ago and is 7-5 down in their Head-to-Head so not exactly being blown away ordinarily but she was today.

In just over an hour and 25 minutes, it was another win for Sabalenka in Wuhan as Pegula has to figure out a way to conquer the World No.1 who is imperious in this event. Easier said than done albeit she will likely fancy her chances more in a three set than two when it comes to it. Sabalenka lauded her opponent afterwards as well as the Chinese fans.

“I feel a really great connection with the Chinese fans I guess. I feel at home every time playing here. Honestly that’s just crazy," said Sabalenka. "She’s a great player. Very nice girl. Always tough to play against. We have a really huge history against each other. Always great battles. Always exciting playing her. She always pushes me to the limit to get the win. Super happy with the performance today. Happy with the win. Really happy with the support in the stadium, thank you guys for coming.”