SABALENKA EXTENDS DOMINANT STREAK

Belarusian defeats Rybakina for her 10th consecutive match victory, faces Pegula next

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Aryna Sabalenka powered into her lth semifinal of the year with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Elena Rybakina at the Wuhan Open on Oct 10, while a flawless Jasmine Paolini stunned Iga Swiatek in just 65 minutes.

World No. 1 Sabalenka closed out the victory despite service wobbles late on, improving her win-loss record against Rybakina to 8-5 and earning a measure of revenge for a stunning loss to the Kazakh in their previous clash in 2025 in Cincinnati.

She remains unbeaten in four tournament appearances at the event and will take a 20-0 record into her showdown with Jessica Pegula on Oct 11.

Coco Gauff was also victorious, winning 6-3, 6-0 against Laura Siegemund to reach the last four in Wuhan for a second straight year.

The American third seed faces Italy’s seventh seed Paolini, who in a rematch of their 2024 French Open final shocked world No. 2 Swiatek with a commanding 6-1, 6-2 victory. Paolini had never beaten Swiatek in any of their previous six meetings.

Defending champion Sabalenka said: “Elena is a great player, very nice girl and always tough to play against.

“We have a really huge history against each other, always great battles. She always pushes me to the limit to get the win.

“I’m super happy with the performance today.”

A rock-solid Sabalenka claimed a timely break of serve in game eight on her way to forging a one-set lead in 43 minutes in temperatures above 30 deg C.