Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominance at the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open on Wednesday, improving her perfect record at the WTA 1000 tournament to 13-0 with a 6-4 6-4 second-round win over 37th-ranked Katerina Siniakova. The world No.2 and two-time defending champion, who received a bye in the first round, required 1 hour and 34 minutes to defeat the WTA doubles world No.1.
This win makes Sabalenka the first player to win her first 13 matches in a single city hosting a WTA event since Maria Sharapova achieved the feat in Stuttgart between 2012 and 2014. Sabalenka’s flawless record in Wuhan began with back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019 before the tournament took a five-year break. In the 2018 final, she triumphed over Anett Kontaveit, followed by a victory against Alison Riske-Amritraj in 2019.
In her second-round match against Siniakova, Sabalenka initially built a 4-2 lead in the first set, only for the Czech player to level the score. However, Sabalenka secured two set points at 5-4 and capitalized on Siniakova’s second double fault to claim the opening set. In the second set, Sabalenka once again jumped ahead with a 2-0 lead, but Siniakova clawed back, keeping the set tight. At 5-4, Sabalenka found her rhythm, using her powerful returns to create two match points,…
