2024 Wuhan Open: Jessica Pegula Out as Coco Gauff Advances

By Shane Lambert

The 2024 Wuhan Open continued on Thursday from China. The tournament featured round-of-sixteen matches as players attempted to book their spots in the event's quarterfinal round. American tennis fans saw mixed results, but one important player in the draw that kept her title hopes alive was Coco Gauff.

Gauff Continues to Play Strong Tennis

Gauff won a title last week and is through the first three rounds at the Wuhan Open this week. On Thursday, she posted a confident win against Marta Kostyuk of the Ukraine 6-4, 6-1. Kostyuk did enter with the advantage of not having to play in the previous round. However, Gauff nullified that advantage with an effective service game.

Looking back, it was not that long ago when Gauff was making news for the wrong reasons. She did not come close to defending her US Open title and her other results this season included many disappointments. Furthermore, in September she announced a split with her coach, Brad Gilbert. It seemed like there was trouble in paradise.

With a title from last week and with a chance for another this week, Gauff's fortunes have certainly changed over the last several days. The American will face an unseeded player in the quarterfinals, Magda Linette. The Polish veteran has been sharp this week and defeated Daria Kasatkina on Thursday.

At the time of writing, Aryna Sabalenka had just booked a spot in the quarterfinals. A Gauff-vs-Sabalenka semifinal is therefore starting to look "probable."

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Jessica Pegula Exits on the Bottom Half of the Draw

But Jessica Pegula is out of the 2024 Wuhan Open. She fell to Xinyu Wang, a Chinese national trying to make a bigger name for herself in her home country. Wang joins Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinal round, China's top-ranked player. She, Zheng, eliminated Canadian Leylah Fernandez in a three-set match. That keeps the chances of an all-Chinese semifinal alive as Zheng and Wang are on the same half of the draw.

Italy's Jasmine Paolini, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, cannot be ignored. She is the highest-seeded player remaining in the bottom half of the draw. Paolini will play Zheng in the tournament's quarterfinals.

Guessing this Weekend's Final: 2024 Wuhan Open

If you advanced players according to the seeds, then the final this weekend would be No. 3 Paolini vs No. 1 Sabalenka. However, Gauff, Zheng, and even Beatriz Haddad Maia will have their say on the matter in the days ahead. This latter player, at the time of writing, still had to win her round-of-sixteen match as she played late on the order of play.

I think what you would expect is for Sabalenka to face Zheng in the final. Gauff might have trouble in the late rounds as she should be tired soon following her efforts from last week. Meanwhile, you have to think a combination of Zheng's hard-court prowess and determination playing in China will see her through to the final. Sabalenka has had Zheng's number in some big matches this season. It looks like this tournament is on Sabalenka's racquet.

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