Aryna Sabalenka wins the Wuhan Open after stopping Zheng Qinwen’s comeback

Aryna Sabalenka has cemented her position as year-end world No. 1 in the WTA rankings after defeating Zheng Qinwen in three sets to win the Wuhan Open in China.

The Belarusian got through the first set easily and broke Zheng’s serve at the start of the second set to take a 6-3, *2-1 lead. But Zheng, who had never broken Sabalenka in their three previous meetings, managed a 2-2* break before making two more breaks to win the second set 7-5.

Sabalenka then stormed into a 3-0 lead in the second set before Zheng broke again after a rally that touched all areas of the court. But Sabalenka held her nerve and ultimately triumphed 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 for her fourth title of 2024 and her third consecutive Wuhan Open.

Zheng had previously won just 13 matches in three matches against Sabalenka, all three of them in Grand Slam tournaments – two US Open quarterfinals and this year’s Australian Open final. While the result at this year’s US Open (6-1, 6-2) was the most lopsided ever, this match was closer than the numbers suggested and Zheng further demonstrated her improvement in 2024 in Wuhan by beating Sabalenka three elevated sets for the first time.

Sabalenka will now be just 69 points behind world number 1 Iga Swiatek when the WTA rankings are updated on Monday. Swiatek, who missed the Wuhan Open and the China Open held before it in Beijing, is in the process of changing her coach after parting ways with Tomasz Wiktorowski, with whom she won four of her five Grand Slam titles. She lost 1100 ranking points by missing the China Open, allowing Sabalenka to take a lead that seemed unassailable for most of 2024.

However, Sabalenka will be 806 points ahead of Swiatek in the WTA “Race,” the ranking that takes into account points accumulated this year. This gives her a healthy buffer ahead of the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, which takes place from November 2nd to 9th.

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