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Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka completed a three-peat at the Wuhan Open with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over fifth-seeded Qinwen Zheng in the final on Sunday.

Sabalenka won the tournament in both 2018 and 2019 before running her record to 17-0 on the hardcourts of Wuhan after dispatching Zheng in two hours, 40 minutes. The Belarus native had seven aces and took advantage of eight double faults by her Chinese foe to 4-0 all-time versus Zheng, the crowd favorite in her home nation of China.

“This place definitely feels like home,” Sabalenka said of her success in Wuhan.

The tournament was called off in 2020 because of the pandemic and didn’t return until this season.

Sabalenka, however, admitted that she had a tough time en route to capturing her fourth title of the year.

“First of all I would say the conditions are probably a little bit better for (Zheng) here,” Sabalenka said. “It’s much slower and the ball’s getting heavier. She has more things to do on the court when it’s slower.

“Honestly, I felt like I just lost little bit focus and I let her come back in the match. I got a little bit frustrated there. It became a three-set match. Balls are getting heavier, it’s third set, a bit emotional.”

Sabalenka followed up a three-set victory over former U.S. champion Coco Gauff in the semifinals with a fast start versus Zheng in a rematch of the first Grand Slam final of the season. Sabalenka needed just 38 minutes to win the first set before Zheng benefited from the home-court advantage to respond with a flourish in the second.

Undaunted, Sabalenka won the final three games of the third set to end the match.

Zheng, who won the Olympic gold medal in Paris this summer, was bidding to become just the second Chinese player to claim a WTA 1000 title following Li Na’s victory in Cincinnati in 2012.

“She forced me to see some of the weaknesses in my tactics,” Zheng said of Sabalenka. “I really look forward to training. I look forward to the next match against her.

“After this loss, I’m feeling excited because I am doing better each time. There’s more room for improvement. I hope that I can close the gap and also can overcome this challenge.”

Sabalenka now turns her attention to the WTA Finals Riyadh, where she will continue her pursuit of Iga Swiatek of Poland for the No. 1 ranking. Sabalenka is No. 2.

“Really tight ranking right now,” Sabalenka said. “Really nice to see. I always say of course it’s one of the goals, but I prefer focus on myself and just keep working hard. We’ll see after the Finals if I was good enough this season to become World No.1.”

–Field Level Media