Aryna Sabalenka has strengthened her grip on the year-end world No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings after beating Zheng Qinwen in three sets to win the Wuhan Open in China.

The Belarusian eased through the first set and broke Zheng’s serve early in the second set to lead 6-3, *2-1. But Zheng, who had never broken Sabalenka in their three previous meetings, broke back for 2-2* before breaking twice more to take the second set 7-5.

Sabalenka then roared ahead in the second set, going up *3-0, before Zheng broke again after a rally that touched all parts of the court. But Sabalenka held her nerve, ultimately triumphing 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 for her fourth title of 2024, and her third consecutive Wuhan Open.

Zheng had won just 13 games in three matches against Sabalenka to date, all three coming at Grand Slam tournaments — two U.S. Open quarterfinals and this year’s Australian Open final. While the scoreline at this year’s U.S. Open (6-1, 6-2) was the most lopsided to date, that match was closer than the numbers would suggest, and Zheng further showed off her improvement in 2024 in Wuhan by taking Sabalenka to three sets for the first time.

Sabalenka will now be just 69 points behind world No. 1 Iga Swiatek when the WTA rankings update on Monday. Swiatek, who missed the Wuhan Open and the China Open held in Beijing which preceded it, is in the middle of changing her coach after parting ways with Tomasz Wiktorowski, with whom she won four of her five Grand Slam titles. She dropped 1100 ranking points by missing the China Open, which has allowed Sabalenka to reel in a lead which has looked unassailable for most of 2024.

Sabalenka will however be 806 points ahead of Swiatek in the WTA ‘Race,’ the rankings which account for points accrued this year. This gives her a healthy buffer ahead of the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, which will take place from November 2 to November 9.

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