No.1 seed Aryna Sabalenka maintained her undefeated document at the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open on Wednesday, whereas additionally selecting up a milestone win.
Wuhan: Scores | Schedule | Draws
The two-time defending champion Sabalenka opened her newest Wuhan marketing campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 second-round victory over Thirty seventh-ranked Katerina Siniakova.
After her first-round bye, Sabalenka reclaimed her profitable methods by toppling WTA Doubles World No.1 Siniakova in 1 hour and 34 minutes of play.
“Happy to be back in Wuhan,” Sabalenka mentioned after her win. “Siniakova, who is fighting for every point, it's really good that I was able to finish this match in two sets.”
Posting huge numbers: World No.2 Sabalenka is now up to 13-0 in Wuhan all through her profession. She gained the title in her first look in 2018, then defended her crown in 2019 earlier than the event took its five-year hiatus from the calendar.
“I missed Wuhan a lot,” Sabalenka mentioned. “I just have really good memories of winning, two times, the title here. Just Wuhan brings me a lot of great memories, good vibes.”
Sabalenka additionally notched her fiftieth tour-level win of the yr by beating Siniakova. Sabalenka trails solely Iga Swiatek in tour-level match-wins for the yr, and she or he edges nearer to top-ranked Swiatek in their showdown for the year-end World No.1 spot in the PIF WTA Singles Rankings.
“I love having this competition and I love seeing [Swiatek] in the draw,” Sabalenka mentioned. “I like to, like, get to the finals and face her in the finals. It's at all times nice battles. I at all times take pleasure in fights towards her.
“Hopefully we can play against each other there in the [WTA Finals Riyadh], put it into a fight for World No.1. That's ideal. I'm trying to focus on myself and make sure that I play my best tennis and make sure I still have this opportunity to become World No.1 at the end of the year.”
This yr's Australian Open and US Open champion, Sabalenka is hoping to begin a brand new run of victories as the season comes to a detailed. She had a 15-match profitable streak snapped by Karolina Muchova in final week's Beijing quarterfinals.
Putintseva subsequent up: Sabalenka's Round of 16 opponent might be Thirty fifth-ranked Yulia Putintseva, who eradicated No.15 seed Donna Vekic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 earlier on Wednesday.
Sabalenka and Putintseva have confronted off solely as soon as earlier than, and Putintseva gained that match in straight units again at the 2019 US Open.
Match moments: Sabalenka noticed a 4-2 lead in Wednesday’s first set slip away as Siniakova acquired again on serve in the subsequent sport. However, Sabalenka grabbed two set factors at 5-4, and Siniakova fired her second double fault of the set to cede the lead to the reigning titleholder.
Fierce forehands gave Sabalenka a fast 2-0 lead in the second set, however she double faulted that benefit away, and Siniakova once more stored tempo with the high seed all through the set. At 5-4, although, Sabalenka discovered a few of her strongest returns to garner two match factors.
On her second match level, Sabalenka closed out the win with a profitable backhand — her twenty first winner of the day to Siniakova’s 14. Sabalenka additionally transformed 4 of her 12 break factors, whereas Siniakova went 2-for-8.
