The Belarusian Sabalenka, seeded N.1 in Wuhan, had a catastrophic start against the Kazakh of Russian origin Yulia Putintseva, who won the first set 6-1. Sabalenka then had to battle in the second set, during which the two players went blow for blow, until the successful break on a shutout to lead 5-4.
From that moment, she was able to unfold her tennis, carried by her serve and her devastating forehand, to line up eight consecutive games before finally winning in three sets 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 in 2h01. Winner of two Majors this year (Australian Open in January and US Open in September), she will face in the quarter-final the winner of the duel between Beatriz Haddad and Magdalena Frech, opposed in the evening.
pEGULA TAKES THE DOOR
A little earlier in the day, the American Coco Gauff, back in the Top 5 thanks to her recent title in Beijing, built on her good momentum by outclassing the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (17th) in one hour of play, 6 -4, 6-1. The 20-year-old will face Polish Magda Linette (45th) in the quarter-finals.
Jasmine Paolini, finalist of two Grand Slam tournaments (Roland-Garros and Wimbledon) this year, also won easily against the Russian Erika Andreeva (70th), in two sets, 6-3, 6-2. Conversely, the American Jessica Pegula, recent finalist of the US Open, lost to the local player Xinyu Wang, 51st in the world, after a tight second set, 6-3, 7-5.
The Chinese, who has yet to win any title in her career, will face Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova (33rd) in the quarter-finals.
