Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka cruised past Magdalena Frech 6-2 6-2 in 1 hour and 23 minutes to reach the semifinals at the Wuhan Open.
Earlier at this tournament Sabalenka beat Katerina Siniakova in the second round and came back from a set down to beat Yulia Putintseva in the third round.
Sabalenka has extended her unbeaten streak in Wuhan to 15 to reach her eighth semifinal this season. The Australian Open and US Open champion set up a semifinal against last week’s China Open champion Coco Gauff.
Gauff leads 4-3 in her head-to-head series against Sabalenka. They split 1-1 in their most recent two head-to-head matches at Grand Slam level. Gauf won the US Open final in 2023 to win her first Major title. Sabalenka avenged this defeatby beating Gauff in last January’s Australian Open semifinal.
Sabalenka hit a return winner on the first point of the match and raced out to a 4-0 lead with a double break. The world number 2 held on her next service games to win the first set 6-2 on her second set point. She tallied 22 winners in the first set.
Sabalenka went up a 3-0 lead with two breaks of serve. Frech pulled one break back in the fourth game and held two break points in the sixth game, but Sabalenka held serve to hold serve at deuce. The Belarusian player broke serve at 15 to open up a 5-2 lead and served out the win on her third match point.
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen beat world number 5 Jasmine Paolini 6-2 3-6 6-3 to reach her second straight semifinal. Zheng set up an all-Chinese semifinal against her compatriot Wang Xinyu.
Zheng broke twice in the first and seventh games and served it out on her first set point. Zheng earned an early break in the first game of the second set. Paolini broke twice in a row in the second and fourth games and held her next two service games to win the second set 6-3. Paolini and Zheng traded holds in the first seven games before Zheng started the seventh game with a forehand winner and earned three break points with a series of topspin forehands. The Chinese player broke serve with a forehand return and served out the win with a hold at 30.
Zheng came back from one set down to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 4-6 6-4 7-6 (8-6) reaching her first WTA 1000 semifinal.
Zheng has reached the fifth semifinal of the season following the Australian Open, Palermo, the Olympic Games and Beijing.
“Paolini played very well. It was an excellent match. Very sharp forehand from her. In terms of rallies, she played really well. I did very well in the key points. ”, said Zheng Qinwen.
