2024 Wuhan Open Recap: Sabalenka Triumphs, Zheng Falls Short

By Shane Lambert

The 2024 Wuhan Open is over. On Sunday evening in China, Aryna Sabalenka defeated Qinwen Zheng in the women's final to claim the title by a score of 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

The victory earned Sabalenka her third title from the venue. So dominant has the Belarussian been at the event that one has to wonder just how many titles she might have won there if not for the pandemic. The tournament did not run between 2020 and 2023 inclusive, but Sabalenka claimed titles in 2018 and 2019. She has to be the happiest player to see the event back on tour. Following the win over Zheng, Sabalenka is now 17-0 in her matches at the tournament.

Race for World No. 1 Heats Up

The result will see Sabalenka climb closer to Iga Swiatek at the top of the rankings. However, the Polish player will barely remain No. 1 with Monday's rankings. The season-ending top ranking is in play at the year-end event to come in the weeks ahead.

Zheng's Disappointment and Future Prospects

The result for Zheng in Wuhan has to be incredibly disappointing. She was playing in a home-court tournament and she was playing well. Zheng did manage to take a set off of Sabalenka for the first time in their head-to-head series. However, China's top player dropped to 0-4 in matches against Sabalenka.

Zheng, for her part, will remain the World No. 7 on the women's tour but she is looking very dangerous as a threat to do some damage at the year-end women's event. Technically, she has not clinched her spot in the event yet but it will be hard for Zheng to drop down in the race at this late stage of the season.

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American Players at the 2024 Wuhan Open

Other players that performed well in the event were Coco Gauff and Xinyu Wang, each of which went out in the semifinals. Perhaps Gauff, who represents the USA, was tired in Wuhan's late rounds following a title run the previous week. Meanwhile, Wang's performance will rank among her career highlights so far as she, like Zheng, represents China.

The No. 2 seed in the event was American Jessica Pegula. She went out fairly early in the draw, making just the round of sixteen (l. to Wang). But Pegula did make the final in the doubles tournament, where she and her partner lost in straight sets.

American Emma Navarro also had a disappointing event in representing the USA. She went out in the round of 32. Navarro is the No. 8 player on year-to-date rankings, meaning she is on the bubble for the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh. A strong result would have helped her stake a claim in the year-end event. At this point, she still looks comfortable to make it but there is work to do.

Looking Ahead to the WTA Finals

The WTA Finals will come from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this season, running from November 2nd to November 9th. There are still a host of tournaments to be played before then, many of which are in China and Japan.

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