Wuhan, China – World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka overcame early fears at the Wuhan Open, beating non-seeded player Rebecca Sramkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
The defending champion has achieved amazing results in Wuhan – she won 18 wins and 0 losses while winning the championship in 2018, 2019 and 2024.
US Open champion Sabalenka broke his opponent in the first set of the finals and grabbed the second match point in the past two hours to win.
“I know that after that short break… it’s not that easy to get back to my pace,” Sabalenka said in an interview on the court. “I’m really happy in the second set I found my way of playing and stepped in and I think I played really well.”
Sabalenka broke the 68th opponent in the fourth game of the second set and led 4-1. She saved four break points in the seventh inning.
Her next opponent is No. 16 seed Lyudmira Samsonova, who beat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Slamkova broke Sabalenka twice in the first set.
Sabalenka, who was on vacation in Greece after her second straight win at Flushing Meadows, quit last week’s other WTA 1000-level event China Open.
Meanwhile, Jessica Pegula broke twice in the third set but beat Hayley Baptiste in a fierce tiebreak and advanced.
The sixth seed Pegula defeated her American compatriots 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) at the seventh match point and advanced to the third round.
Pegula, who lost in the semifinals of the China Open last week, will next face ninth seed Katerina Alexandrova, who beat American Ang Lee 7-6 (5), 6-2.
The third-ranked world leader Coco Goff, who lost to final champion Amanda Anisimova in the Chinese Open semi-finals last week, defeated Moyuka Uchijima 6-1 and 6-0 in 51 minutes, easily advanced to the next round.
In addition, qualifier Kateřina Siniaková defeated Maya Joint 6-3, 6-1.
The 11th seed Naomi Osaka beats non-seeded player Linda Noskova 7-6 (2), 6-3. The 20-year-old Czech player was defeated by Amanda Anisimova in the final of the China Open on Sunday.
No. 17 Noskova will next play against Jacqueline Christian or Elena Rebakina.
