Aryna Sabalenka battles past Coco Gauff to reach 10th WTA 1000 final of career in Wuhan

Aryna Sabalenka clawed back from 6-1, 4-2 down to defeat Coco Gauff in a blockbuster clash between Top 4 players in the semifinals of Wuhan on Saturday, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, snapping the American’s nine-match winning streak in China.

And it was a special victory for Sabalenka—it puts her through to the milestone 10th WTA 1000 final of her career.

She’s 6-3 in her first nine WTA 1000 finals.

SABALENKA’S 10 WTA 1000 FINALS:
- Won 2018 Wuhan (d. Kontaveit in final, 6-3, 6-3)
- Won 2019 Wuhan (d. Riske-Amritraj in final, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1)
- Won 2020 Doha (d. Kvitova in final, 6-3, 6-3)
- Won 2021 Madrid (d. Barty in final, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4)
- R-Up at 2023 Indian Wells (l. to Rybakina in final, 7-6, 6-4)
- Won 2023 Madrid (d. Swiatek in final, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3) 
- R-Up at 2024 Madrid (l. to Swiatek in final, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6)
- R-Up at 2024 Rome (l. to Swiatek in final, 6-2, 6-3)
- Won 2024 Cincinnati (d. Pegula in final, 6-3, 7-5)
- TBD at 2024 Wuhan (plays Zheng or Wang in final)

And if her history in Wuhan is anything to go by, she’s got a very good chance at capturing the title on Sunday. She’s now 16-0 in her career at this tournament, going 6-0 to win the title in 2018, 6-0 to win the title again in 2019, and now 4-0 so far this year.

Sabalenka’s now 19-1 in her last 20 matches on the tour, too, a stretch that began two months ago with back-to-back title runs in Cincinnati (5-0) and the US Open (7-0). She reached the quarterfinals in Beijing last week (3-1), falling to Karolina Muchova, before reaching another final in Wuhan this week (4-0).

It almost looked like a runwaway victory for Gauff on Saturday, as the American stormed out to a 6-1, 4-2 lead—but Sabalenka caught fire from there, winning the next seven games in a row to not only take the second set, but also build a 3-0 lead in the third.

Gauff bounced back, getting back on serve, but one last break in the final game of the match sealed the deal for Sabalenka.

The two finished with identical winners and unforced errors, 31 to 35, and both broke six times—the only glaring difference on the stats sheet at the end of the day was aces to double faults, with Sabalenka an even 2 to 2 but Gauff with 4 to 21.

Standing between Sabalenka and her seventh WTA 1000 crown will be the winner of the all-Chinese semifinal later in the day between Zheng Qinwen and Wang Xinyu.