By Alberto Amalfi | @Tennis_Now | Saturday, October 12, 2024
Aryna Sabalenka roared back to snap Coco Gauff's nine-match winning streak with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph to reach to her third straight Wuhan final.
Photo credit: Robert Prange/Getty
The calendar tells us 2024 is the year of the dragon.
Aryna Sabalenka's Wuhan performance reminds us it's Tiger Time.
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In a clash of US Open champions, Sabalenka roared back from a set and a break down to snap Coco Gauff's nine-match winning streak with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph to reach to her third straight Wuhan final.
The woman with the tiger tattoo on her forearm continues to tame all comers in Wuhan. Sabalenka is the first woman to reach three Wuhan finals in a row.
"I don't know that's pretty crazy," Sabalenka said. "I love this place. And thank you so much Qinwen on winning the gold medal. I feel like tennis in China is getting more popular, full crowds, it's really enjoyable playing in front of you. I'm really happy to be in the finals."
Two-time champion Sabalenka raised her Wuhan record to a perfect 16-0 and evened her head-to-head with Gauff at four wins apiece.
Double faults betrayed Gauff's cause. Gauff, who had tamed her sometime unruly second serve winning Beijing, clanked 21 double faults, including 18 double faults over the final two sets.
It was Sabalenka's 19th win in her last 20 matches propelling her to her third final in her last four events. Sabalenka will play for her 17th career championship on Sunday; 14 of her 16 titles have come on hard courts.
The reigning US Open and Australian Open champion Sabalenka will face a Chinese opponent in the final, either Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng Qinwen or No.51 Wang Xinyu.
World No. 4 Gauff came out firing today bursting out to a 5-0 lead. Gauff was ripping returns breaking twice in a row as Sabalenka won just three point on serve in her first two service games.
Gauff, who beat Sabalenka in the 2023 US Open final, served out the opening set at 15.
Four straight breaks started the second set. Sabalenka was crunching crosscourt forehands as she broke for 5-4 before serving out the second set to force a decider.
In the final set, Sabalenka broke for a 2-0 lead then saved three break points confirming for 3-0. Sabalenka saved a couple of break points extending to 4-1.
The speedy Gauff broke back for 3-4 then held to level.
Piling up the pressure, Sabalenka scored her sixth break to close in two hours, 26 minutes.