Zheng says her attitude had changed ahead of their final clash, having lost her two meetings with Sabalenka this year.

The Belarusian star has a 3-0 head-to-head record over Chinese ace Zheng, with two victories coming at the Australian Open and US Open in 2024.

Melbourne’s clash came in the final, with the Flushing Meadows encounter having been in the quarter-finals.

Aryna Sabalenka equals Serena Williams record after Wuhan Open win

That record has now moved to 4-0 in favour of Sabalenka, who emerged victorious in the Wuhan Open 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

READ MORE: Aryna Sabalenka reveals how she reacted after seeing Rafael Nadal’s retirement video just before her Wuhan Open quarter-final

As per OptaAce, she is now the second player to win a WTA-1000 event in three consecutive editions of the tournament, following the three Miami titles of Serena Williams from 2013 to 2015.

Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek break WTA-1000 record

Sabalenka also won the Wuhan Open in 2018 and 2019, with the competition then returning this year after a five-year break.

The Belarusian has dominated the tournament, storming to yet another title in Wuhan thanks to her two-hour and 40-minute win over Zheng.

She now has 28 WTA-1000 wins to her name in 2024, with that figure combining with Iga Swiatek’s 30 to surpass the previous record of Williams (36) and Maria Sharapova (21) in 2013, as per OptaAce.

READ MORE: Aryna Sabalenka states the ‘ideal’ scenario in her year-end world number one fight with Iga Swiatek

The current duo are, however, competing with each other as opposed to working together in the bid for the year-end number one ranking.

Polish ace Swiatek, who didn’t take part in the Wuhan Open, currently sits top of the pile, with Sabalenka a close second.

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