Sabalenka, Zheng contest Wuhan crown

WUHAN, China (AFP) — Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka fought back from a set down to beat Coco Gauff, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday and reach the Wuhan Open final for the third time.

A champion in Wuhan in 2018 and 2019, Sabalenka improved her perfect record in the tournament to 16-0 and will next face Zheng Qinwen, who became the first Chinese player to reach a WTA 1000 final on home soil.

It will be a rematch of the Australian Open final, which Sabalenka won earlier this season.

In an all-Chinese affair, the fifth-seeded Zheng defeated Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-4 to reach her fourth final of the season.

“I never imagined that my first WTA 1000 final would happen here in Wuhan,” said Olympic champion Zheng, who was born in the Hubei province and moved to Wuhan when she was a child.

“Today was a very tough match, Xinyu played really well. The crowd was very supportive and fair to both of us.”

Gauff, who was on a nine-match winning streak on the back of her title run in Beijing last week, played a perfect first set but committed a whopping 21 double-faults during a semi-final lasting two hours, 26 minutes.

Sabalenka has now won 19 of her last 20 matches, a stretch that includes titles in Cincinnati and at the US Open.

“It definitely felt like one of the biggest matches of my career because the crowd made it feel like it was a Grand Slam final,” said Sabalenka, who is now 4-4 in career meetings with Gauff.

Sabalenka struggled on serve early on and couldn’t control her forehand as a clinical Gauff leapt to a double-break 5-0 lead inside 19 minutes.

The American fourth seed dropped a mere two points behind her first serve and limited the Belarusian to just two winners throughout that opening frame.

Down 2-4 in the second set, Sabalenka took seven games in a row, capitalising on Gauff’s double-faults to build a 3-0 lead in the decider.

Despite Gauff’s best retaliatory efforts, Sabalenka held on to close out a gritty victory.

Sabalenka, who has had her fair share of serving woes in the past and worked with a specialised biomechanics coach to overcome them, said she could relate to Gauff’s double-faulting issues during the semi-final.

“I was playing that match thinking, ‘Well, girl, I feel you. I feel you like nobody else,’” said Sabalenka, 26.

“I know what she’s going through. This is really difficult. But I know that if she’ll be able to overcome this serve situation — she is already one of the best players, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to be one of the greatest players.”

Gauff added a new coach to her team, Matt Daly, after the US Open and they’ve been tinkering with her serve ever since.

The 20-year-old described her troubles on Saturday as “growing pains” and assures “there’s a lot of positives to look forward to.”