FIRST SEED Aryna Sabalenka extended her unbeaten record at the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open, Wednesday (9/10), after
won the opening round of the tennis tournament.
Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, opened the match in Wuhan with a 6-4, 6-4 second-round win over 37th-ranked Katerina Siniakova.
Sabalenka returned to winning ways by overthrowing Siniakova, who is the world number 1 in women’s doubles, in 1 hour 34 minutes.
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“It’s great to be back in Wuhan. Siniakova, who fought for every point, is very happy that I was able to finish this match in two sets,” Sabalenka said after her win, as broadcast by the WTA.
The world number 2 tennis player has now recorded a 13-0 win and loss record in Wuhan throughout his career.
He won the title at the tennis tournament in China in his first appearance in 2018 and then defended the title in 2019 before the tournament went on hiatus for five years.
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“I really miss Wuhan. I have very fond memories of winning the title, twice, here. Wuhan alone
gave me a lot of great memories, a great atmosphere,” Sabalenka said.
Sabalenka also recorded her 50th win at tour level this year by beating Siniakova.
The Belarusian trails only Iga Swiatek in tour-level match wins for the year, and she is closing in on top-ranked Swiatek in their battle for the year-end world No.1 spot in the WTA singles rankings.
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“I’m happy to take part in this competition and I’m happy to see (Swiatek) in the draw,” said Sabalenka.
“I just love, like, getting to the final and facing him in the final. There’s always a great fight. I always enjoy the fight
fight him.”
“Hopefully we can play each other there at the (WTA Finals Riyadh), fighting for No.1 in the world. That would be 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 the world number 1 player by the end of the year,” continued the 26 year old tennis player.
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This year’s Australian Open and United States (US) Open champion, Sabalenka, hopes to start a new winning streak towards the end of the season.
She had a winning streak of 15 matches which was broken by Karolina Muchova in the Beijing quarter-finals last week.
Sabalenka’s opponent in the round of 16 will be Yulia Putintseva, ranked 35th in the world, who eliminated 15th seed Donna Vekic 6-4, 3-6 and 6-4.
Sabalenka and Putintseva have only faced each other once before, and Putintseva won that match in straight sets at the 2019 US Open. (Ant/Z-1)
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