Sabalenka extends Wuhan winning streak to 19

WUHAN, China — US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka‘s winning streak at the Wuhan Open rolled on to 19 matches when she beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000-level tournament.

The top-ranked Sabalenka’s streak includes winning titles at Wuhan in 2018, 2019 and 2024.

No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek also advanced, winning 7-6 (2), 6-4 against former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic. Swiatek improved to a 5-1 career record over Bencic, including a straights-set win in the Wimbledon semifinals in July.

Sabalenka will next play eighth-seeded Elena Rybakina, who won 6-3, 6-4 over Linda Noskova as she seeks to earn an entry to the WTA Finals event in Saudi Arabia.

Swiatek’s quarterfinal opponent is Jasmine Paolini, who advanced through the round of 16 when Clara Tauson retired when trailing 3-6, 6-1, 3-1.

Earlier, Jessica Pegula recovered from an early service break in the third set to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 and advance to the final eight. The sixth-seeded Pegula, who lost in the China Open semifinals last week, leveled the deciding set at 2-2 then won four of the last five games for victory.

The win over No. 9 Alexandrova came a day after Pegula needed seven match points to beat fellow American Hailey Baptiste in the second round.

It was Pegula’s sixth straight three-set match, and for the fifth time, she won.

“I can’t remember the last time I played two sets,” Pegula said. “But I’ve been competing really hard, and I’ve been playing a lot of really good players. It was different conditions today with the roof closed, and I think it took us a little while to get adjusted.”

In the late match, No. 3 Coco Gauff, coming off a semifinal loss to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova at the China Open last week, defeated Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-2.