Aryna Sabalenka complicated things in the Wuhan Open final but ultimately managed to beat home favorite Zheng Qinwen 6-3 5-7 6-3 and complete a three-peat at the WTA 1000 tournament.
Playing against a hometown favorite in front of a packed crowd, the top-seeded Belarusian appeared to be cruising toward a routine straight-set win after going up by a set and a break.
But then, the Belarusian started missing – the crowd got involved and the Paris Olympics gold medalist got fired up – and the final went three sets.
Sadly for Zheng and the home fans, she didn’t manage to complete her comeback after suffering a collapse at the start of the decider and losing her serve a stunning four times during the final set.
Now, Sabalenka owns a 4-0 head-to-head against the player she also beat in this year’s Australian Open final. Unlike in their previous meetings, the 22-year-old Chinese was at least able to take a set off the three-time Grand Slam champion this time.
Before the pandemic, the 26-year-old won back-to-back Wuhan titles in 2018 and 2019. In what was the tournament’s first edition in five years, the Belarusian continued her dominance and is now 17-0 lifetime in Wuhan.
Also, the current world No. 2 now has four titles…
