By Shane Lambert
Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff advanced on Friday at the WTA event in Wuhan, China. Sabalenka, who is the top seed in the tournament, eliminated Magdalena Frech in a routine match. The line score was 6-2, 6-2 in the Russian's favor. Meanwhile, Coco Gauff continued to play well, winning her ninth consecutive match. She defeated Magda Linette 6-0, 6-4 as tennis fans look ahead to the Wuhan late rounds.
Gauff vs Sabalenka Prediction: WTA Wuhan 2024
The victories from Gauff and Sabalenka have set up a blockbuster semifinal in the top half of the 2024 Wuhan draw. The two players will meet for a spot in the final. Presumptively, the winner of the Gauff/Sabalenka semifinal will be the favorite to win the title.
Sabalenka and Gauff have faced one another seven times already. Gauff holds the edge on head-to-heads, with a 4-3 record in their series.
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Their most famous match was the 2023 US Open final, a match that Gauff won. Sabalenka avenged that defeat by beating Gauff in the 2024 Australian Open semifinals, a tournament that the Russian would go on to win. Other matches in their head-to-head series are from Indian Wells 2023 and prior.
There have been four three-set matches between them. Furthermore, rarely has a set not been at least moderately competitive. Of the 18 sets in their series, only six have had fewer than ten games. Their set scores have been fairly loaded with 6-4 or 7-5 or 7-6 results.
A lot has been made of Gauff's current winning streak. She has won nine straight matches, six last week in Beijing and now three in Wuhan. However, Sabalenka's exit last week in the China Open's quarterfinals might actually help her out in Wuhan. Whereas Gauff will be playing in her 10th match in about two weeks, Sabalenka will only be playing in her 8th. In a match that promises to have some long sets and maybe even a third set, you have to wonder if Gauff's energy levels might dip just enough to give Sabalenka a critical edge. My prediction for Gauff vs Sabalenka is that the latter player will win this match.
China Will Have a Finalist at WTA Wuhan 2024: Zheng vs Wang Preview
In the bottom half of the draw, two Chinese nationals made it to the semifinals. Firstly, Xinyu Wang won a coin toss for a match, edging out Ekaterina Alexandrova in a three-set match that went to a tiebreaker. Wang won the tiebreaker by the minimum spread, with just two points between her and Alexandrova.
Wang, who represents China, entered Wuhan as the World No. 51. If she does no better than the semifinals, then she projects to be about World No. 39 or so when the rankings are updated on Monday. At this point, Wang does look like she is in over her head in Wuhan.
Next up is Qinwen Zheng, China's top player. Zheng defeated Jasmine Paolini in the final quarterfinal played on Friday. These two players, Zheng and Wang, have not yet faced one another in a tour match. However, Zheng is, by far, the more accomplished player.
WTA Wuhan 2024: Looking Ahead to the Final
If Coco Gauff is tired after playing so many matches in the last two weeks, then you would think the late rounds will go in Sabalenka's favor. Sabalenka is 3-0 against Qinwen Zheng without any dropped sets or even a tiebreaker. Also, Sabalenka has experienced a lot of success in Wuhan in recent seasons. Furthermore, even if Zheng or Gauff (or even Wang) play at their best, Sabalenka is more than capable of putting a match together that can compete with anyone on tour. With Wuhan titles from 2018 and 2019, Sabalenka may just pick up where she left off at the event.
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