WUHAN, China – Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (No. 2) shattered the dream of Chinese Zheng Qinwen (7th) by winning Sunday in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, and puts pressure on world No. 1 Iga Swiatek as the WTA Finals approach.
The 26-year-old Belarusian, seeded No. 1 in Wuhan, had to battle before finishing after 2 hours 40 minutes of play, to win her fourth tournament of the season after the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati in August and two tournaments in Grand Slams: the Australian Open in January and the US Open also in August.
With this success, the third in Wuhan, where she is undefeated in 17 matches, Sabalenka returns to less than 100 points in the WTA ranking of the Polish Iga Swiatek, absent in China, while the best players in the world will meet in Saudi Arabia on 2 to November 9 as part of the Masters.
After this defeat in the final in front of his audience, Zheng, seeded no. 5, will still have to wait to validate his presence in Riyadh, but also to win the first Masters 1000 of his young career.
The first set was a formality for Sabalenka, who delighted the Chinese woman’s serve with a double fault to lead 4-2 before confirming her break and concluding with an ace in 38 minutes (6-3).
During the second round, however, the two players delivered a recital. After breaking, Sabalenka suddenly lost the thread and allowed her 22-year-old opponent to break in turn with a shutout at 2-2, and even take control after her throw-in.
The world No. 2 multiplied the unforced errors, including an improbable one allowing Zheng, crowned Olympic champion in Paris this summer, to serve to win the set.
Sabalenka then returned to five games all, but more was needed to defeat the Chinese. Pushed by a lively audience, they took matters into their own hands, playing two consecutive games to return to one set everywhere (7-5).
Obviously physically exhausted after such a riot of effort, Zheng seemed to be looking for her second wind in the last round, losing contact with the Belarusian.
In a burst of pride, the Chinese returned to 3-2, but did not manage to make up for her break, leaving Sabalenka to win her 17th title on the circuit, the 5th in China.
