Sabalenka improves to 16-0 in Wuhan after beating Gauff, to meet Zheng

Aryna Sabalenka improved an astonishing 16 straight wins in Wuhan after snapping American Coco Gauff’s nine-match win streak to stay perfect and reached her fourth WTA 1000 final of 2024 at the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open.

The 26-year-old Belarusian Sabalenka came from a set and a break down to beat the American Coco Gauff 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the In a battle between the last two US Open champions to advance to her third straight Wuhan final in which she will face Chinese no.1 Zheng Qinwen on Sunday.

“This definitely felt like one of the biggest matches of my career, crowd- wise, it’s like another grand slam final match. Coco is an incredible player. We have had a lot of tough battles in the past. She’s in great shape. I knew I had to work really hard to get the win. A couple of mistakes from her and I got a little belief that I still had chances in this match. I’m really happy with this win. It’s a really important one,” Aryna Sabalenka on beating Coco Gauff to reach 3rd Wuhan Final.

Sabalenka, a two-time defending champion, has now improved to 16-0 in Wuhan, dating back to her debut in 2018.

On Sunday, Sabalenka is bidding to capture her fourth Hologic WTA title of the season and 17th overall. After winning the Australian Open in January, Sabalenka has been on a hot streak since the start of the Cincinnati Open in August. She has won 19 of her last 20 matches and has made the final or better at three of her last four tournaments, winning in Cincinnati and the US Open. A win in Wuhan would give her two WTA 1000 titles in a single season for the first time in her career.

Sabalenka, who will be participating in her 31st career finals on Sunday will face either No.7 Zheng Qinwen.