Aryna Sabalenka became the first player to win the Wuhan Open three times with a hard-fought victory over Zheng Qinwen in Sunday’s final.
The 26-year-old Belarusian was taken to three sets by China’s Zheng in a thrilling rematch of this year’s Australian Open final, in which she also claimed victory.
Sabalenka claimed her fourth women’s singles title of the year with 6-3 5-7 6-3 and remains undefeated in Wuhan.
“That sounds crazy,” she said. ‘This place definitely feels like home.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll play many more finals against each other.”
Top seed Sabalenka took the opening set in just 38 minutes, but Zheng made her comeback in a harrowing second to force a decider.
There, Zheng trailed 3–0, and while she pulled back two games, she lost her serve again when Sabalenka broke for a 5–2 lead.
The world number two failed to serve out the match as Zheng fell in love again, but ultimately claimed her 17th career title on her third championship point.
Reigning Olympic gold medalist Zheng, who became the first Chinese player to reach a WTA 1000 final, has now lost all four of her meetings against the three-time Grand Slam champion.
“I’ll do better next time,” she said.
Sabalenka is now unbeaten in 17 consecutive matches in Wuhan, breaking Petra Kvitova’s record for the most matches at the tournament.
The victory adds to a successful year in which she won both the Australian Open and US Open and appeared in seven singles finals.
