Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominance at the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open on Wednesday, extending her perfect record at the WTA 1000 tournament to 13-0 with a 6-4 6-4 second-round victory over 37th-ranked Katerina Siniakova. The world No.2 and two-time defending champion, who had a bye in the first round, took 1 hour and 34 minutes to defeat the WTA doubles world No.1.
This victory makes Sabalenka the first player to win her first 13 matches in a single city hosting a WTA event since Maria Sharapova accomplished the same in Stuttgart between 2012 and 2014. Sabalenka’s unbeaten streak in Wuhan began with consecutive titles in 2018 and 2019 before the tournament had a five-year hiatus. She defeated Anett Kontaveit in the 2018 final and Alison Riske-Amritraj in 2019.
In the match against Siniakova, Sabalenka initially went up 4-2 in the first set, but the Czech player managed to level the score. Nonetheless, Sabalenka secured two set points at 5-4 and took the opening set after Siniakova’s second double fault. In the second set, Sabalenka surged to a 2-0 lead, but Siniakova fought back to keep it close. At 5-4, Sabalenka regained control, earning two match points and ultimately sealing the win with a backhand winner – her 21st of the match compared to Siniakova’s 14.
Aside from her Wuhan triumph, Sabalenka also reached her 50th tour-level victory of the season with this win. She trails only Iga Swiatek in total match wins for the year, with the world No. 1 conspicuously absent from the Wuhan draw.
Next up, the top-seeded Sabalenka will take on world No.35 Yulia Putintseva in the Round of 16. The two players have met only once before, at the 2019 US Open, where Putintseva emerged victorious in straight sets. Putintseva advanced to this stage by defeating 15th seed Donna Vekic 6-4 3-6 6-4 earlier on Wednesday. (source: WTA)
