Aryna Sabalenka continued her unbeaten streak at the Wuhan Open, reaching the semi-finals of the 2024 edition of the tournament by beating Magdalena Frech.
The Belarusian player's positive relationship with Wuhan started already back in 2018. She won the tournament, lifting only the second Tour-level trophy of her tennis career.
It was Sabalenka's debut in Wuhan, and she beat Carla Suarez Navarro, Elina Svitolina, Sofia Kenin, Dominika Cibulkova, Ashleigh Barty, and Anett Kontaveit to lift the trophy.
The following year, she returned as the defending champion and already the ninth seed in the draw. Once again, she bet everyone standing in her way, defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Danielle Collins, Kiki Bertens, Elena Rybakina, Ashleigh Barty, and Alison Riske to win back-to-back Wuhan Open trophies.
Unfortunately for her, the tournament was not held between 2020 and 2023 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it returned to the calendar this year, and Sabalenka extended her winning streak without a loss at the event to already 15 matches.
In the second round, she bested Katerina Siniakova before overcoming her good friend Yulia Putintseva in the third round. That win over Putintseva secured Sabalenka the World No. 1 spot.
She will not become the World No. 1 player immediately after the Wuhan Open, but the week after, on October 21st, when the points from last year's WTA Finals drop from the rankings.
Still, the fight for the year-end World No. 1 rank will take place at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh, and Sabalenka has an advantage over Swiatek, not only in points but also because she can better prepare her position for the tournament.
The current World No. 2 can go to Riyadh with an 806-point lead over Iga Swiatek, and she's making sure to make that gap as big as possible at the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan.
Her quarter-final opponent was Magdalena Frech, and even though the Polish player was enjoying one of the best tournaments of her tennis career, she couldn't help her compatriot Swiatek in the World No. 1 fight, as Sabalenka was too good for her to overcome.
The top seed in Wuhan set the tone by breaking her opponent's serve already in the opening game of the match, and despite facing two break points in the following game, Sabalenka saved both to lead 2-0.
She then extended her lead with yet another break of serve to make it 4-0. Even though she couldn't add another break, she didn't need to, as she was in complete control of the first set and won it 6-2.
The second set was a bit more dramatic and also maybe exciting for fans in Wuhan. Once again, Sabalenka sprinted into a swift 3-0 lead, but this time around, she lost one of her breaks, as Frech made it 2-3.
The Polish player then even had two break points to break back and make it 3-3, but that's when the Belarusian shifted into another gear, winning 10 of the following 12 points to win the match easily in two sets, 6-2, 6-2.
In the semi-finals of the 2024 Wuhan Open, Sabalenka set up an exciting blockbuster clash with the fourth-seeded Coco Gauff, who is currently on a nine-match winning streak.
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