After losing the first seven sets of her career to Aryna Sabalenka, Zheng Qinwen finally scored a breakthrough. She finished a pulsating 60-minute frame on Sunday with an uncharacteristic roar and a fist pump.

All the momentum was Zheng’s. She had won 10 straight matches that went to a deciding set and was clearly feeling the unconditional love of nearly all of the 15,000 in attendance. 

How did Sabalenka respond to this potentially disabling, disheartening moment? 

Wuhan: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

By winning the next three games -- and showing the kind of heart that has made her the hottest player on tour this summer. Sabalenka emerged with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory to win her third consecutive title at the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open.

There were a handful of critical junctures in this 2-hour, 40-minute match and Sabalenka ultimately rose to meet them all. She briefly lost her composure several times, but in the end mastered her emotions. Sabalenka, at the age of 26, has become proficient at moving past bad moments. In an instant, she resets, reloads and carries on.

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

“I wouldn’t say that she did something differently. I would say that I just played kind of like against myself. But I’m really happy I was able to put everything together in the third set and get this win.”

With titles here in 2018 and 2019, Sabalenka returned to the top after the tournament experienced a five-year hiatus. She’s won all of her 17 matches in Wuhan. Five of her 17 career titles have come in China, something no other woman has achieved in the Open Era.

The previous three matches between them were clinical, straight-set affairs, but Zheng finally broke Sabalenka’s serve for the first time to level the second set at 2-all. She backed it up with two more breaks to avert a tiebreak and force a third set.

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There’s a famous quote, often attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, “Let China sleep, for when she awakes, the world will tremble.” For Zheng, 2024 has been that awakening. She won the singles Olympic gold medal in Paris and for close to three hours played the World No.2 on nearly even terms. 

In the end, though, her serve cost her the match. Each player created 12 break-point opportunities, but Sabalenka won seven -- two more than Zheng. Zheng was forced to hit 56 second serves, twice as many as Sabalenka, who won 36 of those points.

“At critical points in this match, I need to increase my speed,” Zheng said. “I was a little bit conservative. The shaking of my racquet when I became conservative made more unforced errors.

Sabalenka beats Zheng in three-set thriller to win third Wuhan title

“She forced me to see some of the weaknesses in my tactics. After this loss, I'm feeling excited because I am doing better each time. There’s more room for improvement.”

Zoom out for a moment and reflect on Sabalenka’s year. She’s played 16 events, reached seven finals and won four titles.

Sabalenka won two of the four Grand Slam singles championships, the first in Australia, the last in New York. For the first time in her career she won two WTA 1000s in a single year, in Cincinnati and in Wuhan, the last of 10 on the calendar.

Since Wimbledon, she’s won 24 of 27 matches and on Monday, she will lead the PIF Race to the WTA Finals.

A year ago, Sabalenka rose to the overall No.1 ranking for eight weeks before losing it to Iga Swiatek at the WTA Finals in Cancun. This year, it could go the other way. With the win, Sabalenka narrowed Swiatek’s lead.

“Yeah,” Sabalenka said, “that’s really tight ranking right now. Really nice to see. I always say of course it’s one of the goals, but I prefer to 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.”