Aryna Sabalenka continued her pursuit of a fourth consecutive Wuhan Open title after defeating Elena Rybakina in straight sets.
Clinching her first hard-court win over the Kazakh star since 2023, Sabalenka won 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 25 minutes to advance to the semifinals.
She will face Jessica Pegula in the final four, who came through her quarterfinal clash with Katerina
Siniakova in three sets to secure her place in the next round.
Sabalenka, now two wins away from making history, improved her incredible unbeaten record at the Wuhan Open to 20-0 with her triumph over Rybakina, whom she had high praise for after the match.
Aryna Sabalenka reacts to reaching the Wuhan Open semifinals
“She is a great player, a very nice girl and always tough to play against,” said the Belarusian in her on-court interview.
“We have a really huge history against each other. Always great battles, always excited playing her. She always pushes me to the limit to get the win.
“I’m super happy with the performance today and the win. I am really happy with the support in the stadium, thank you guys for coming.
“I feel a really great connection with the Chinese fans. I feel at home every time playing in this stadium. That’s just crazy.”
Sabalenka has a record of eight wins and two losses at WTA events against her next opponent, Pegula, who she spoke about ahead of their 11th meeting.
“She is a great player. We always play tough matches against each other. She’s another player I am always excited to face and pushes me to play my best tennis. I am super excited to play her in the semis.”
Elena Rybakina told she will need to ‘reflect’ after the defeat
Rybakina would have hoped to take at least a set off of Sabalenka, considering her strong recent record against the world number one on hard court.
It was not to be for the former Wimbledon champion, however, who former British tennis player Colin Fleming said will ‘need to reflect’ after the loss.
Reacting to the match on Sky Sports, Fleming said: “It’s a really good win and performance from Aryna Sabalenka.
“This was a dangerous match today. Elena Rybakina is playing some serious tennis again, but I think she will need to reflect on a real dip at the end of the first set and then leaving the court and immediately falling a break behind in the second set, and then 4-1.
“You just can’t do that at this level, you can’t have those dips where your level or focus dips slightly and Sabalenka made her pay.”
Rybakina now trails Sabalenka 8-5 in their career WTA head-to-head, and 2-1 for the 2025 season.
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