According to statisticians Opta, external Sabalenka is the fourth female player to win the first twenty main draw matches in a single WTA event since 1990, after Monica Seles at the Australian Open (33-0), Steffi Graf in Leipzig (25-0) and Caroline Wozniacki in New Haven (20-0).
Sabalenka, who retained her US Open title in September, controlled the match against Rybakina, closing the first set with a hold before breaking the Kazakh’s serve in the first game of the second.
Despite a few service fluctuations in the closing stages, Sabalenka took a comfortable victory and set the match on course with Pegula, a player she has won eight of her 10 encounters against.
Asked about her back-to-back wins at the tournament, four-time major winner Sabalenka said she feels a “really great bond” with the fans in China.
“Every time I play here, I feel at home. Honestly, that’s just crazy,” she said.
Sixth seed Pegula suffered a defeat to Siniakova before fighting back to take the second set unchallenged. She then took the third set for her 50th win of the season, boosting her chances of qualifying for next month’s WTA Finals.
Pegula’s last seven matches all went to three sets, with the world number six losing only one. “I think I’m in really good shape,” she said.
Third-seeded American Gauff converted five of eight break points against Germany’s Siegemund and has lost just nine games so far in three rounds in Wuhan.
The French Open champion and world number three, who was defeated by Amanda Anisimova in the semi-finals of the China Open last week, next faces seventh seed Paolini.
Italy’s Paolini, ranked eighth in the world, had lost her previous six matches against Poland’s Swiatek, but the 29-year-old needed just 26 minutes to secure the opening set against the second seed on her way to a memorable win.
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