Sabalenka into Wuhan Open finals following tough Victory over Coco Gauff

Wuhan Open,

Saturday, 12 October, 2024 

McCreadie Andias 

World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka came from a set down to defeat world No.4 Coco Gauff, booking a ticket into her third Wuhan Open Finals on Saturday afternoon. 

The epic battle which brought together the last two US Open champions ended in a dramatic 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in favor of Sabalenka, who also extended her perfect winning streak to nine matches. 

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

The two came into the match with two victories each in their last four hard court outings Gauff having prevailed in the most notable showdown,2023 US Open.

Sabalenka won their only meeting of this year, winning in straight sets in the Australian Open semifinal. 

Gauff took the first set in just 28 minutes and opened up a 5-0 lead by holding Sabalenka to just one winner and holding her serve with ease.

The duo traded five breaks of serve to open the set before Gauff notched the first hold to lead 4-2.

Though Sabalenka found herself behind in the scoreline, the first six games of the set also revealed solutions. She settled into a more aggressive game plan to turn the set around, working the ball flat and wide to get Gauff on the run and powering the ball through the open space. 

With the vocal support of the crowd behind her, Sabalenka battled back to break Gauff to tie the set at 4-4. Under pressure again on serve, Sabalenka wiped out a break point with gritty work from the baseline to lead 5-4, sealing the game with a perfect drop shot winner.

With Gauff serving to stay in the set, Sabalenka struck a remarkable lunging forehand volley winner to earn her first point of the game and coolly broke the American to take the match to a third. 

After winning the last four games of the second set, Sabalenka headed into the third with all the momentum. Sabalenka took her streak to seven consecutive games to lead 3-0 in the final frame before Gauff stormed back from 4-1 down to level at 4-4. But a clinical hold to stopped Gauff's run of three games.

Sabalenka broke one final time, as Gauff struck her 21st double fault of the night to end the 2-hour and 26-minute match. Both players finished with 31 winners and 35 unforced errors. 

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 will face either No.7 Zheng Qinwen or No.51 Wang Xinyu in the final.