Aryna Sabalenka admits she deeply felt for Coco Gauff during their Wuhan Open semifinal match as watching the 20-year-old struggle so much on her serve reminded the Belarusian of her own struggles from 2022.
On Saturday, the American led by a set and three times went up by a break in the second set but the top-seeded Belarusian still ended up winning 1-6 6-4 6-4 after the No. 4 seed sprayed a stunning 21 double faults.
Early in the match, Gauff hit three double faults but still didn’t face any break points during the first set. But shortly after breaking Sabalenka in the first game of the second set, the serving woes that have been hampering the 20-year-old for several months now reappeared again.
During the second and third sets, the world No. 4 hit a total of 18 double faults – nine in each set. Down 4-5 in the decider and serving to stay in the match, the American hit two double faults in that game – the second one came on a match point.
In 2022, Sabalenka started having major issues with her serve and she double-faulted 428 times. She by far led the Tour in that category that year as the second player on the list had 151 fewer double faults in 2022.
While the 26-year-old has since resolved her issues and became a three-time Grand Slam champion, watching Gauff…
