Champions Corner: Sabalenka's refined game paves way for a Wuhan hat trick

WUHAN -- Everything you need to know about Aryna Sabalenka's evolution could be found in her third straight title at the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open.

Sabalenka's first two Wuhan titles in 2018 and 2019 came in lightning-quick conditions. Just look at the tournament's list of champions that came before her: Petra Kvitova, Venus Williams and Caroline Garcia. After that run of winners, fans affectionately referred to the low-skidding fast hard court event as "Wuhanbledon."

Wuhan: Scores | Draws

After a four-year hiatus, Wuhan returned to the calendar this year with resurfaced courts that played noticeably slower. Sabalenka admitted tafter her initial practices that winning this year would be an uphill battle.

"I improved a lot," Sabalenka said on the WTA Insider Podcast after completing her historic three-peat on Sunday. "I can come to the net and I can finish point and then I can use my touch. I got some variation in my pocket. I just kept telling myself that if you're not going to be able to hit the ball, you're going to able to slice, to drop shot, to come to the net.

"I was just reminding myself that I have a lot of weapons, not only hitting the ball."

That ability to win points without her overpowering baseline game is precisely why Sabalenka has put herself in position to challenge Iga Swiatek for the year-end No.1 ranking at next month's WTA Finals Riyadh. When her mind is clear and her nerves are calm, Sabalenka has more options than most people realize.

"I love to practice this touch game because I know how much benefit it can give me on my game," Sabalenka said. "I know that I will never forget how to hit the ball. If I can hit the ball strong and then mix it up with some touch game, it's just too much pressure on the opponent."

With her trio of three-set wins over Yulia Putintseva, Coco Gauff and Zheng Qinwen, she proved to herself -- and everyone watching -- that her game is not bound to surface or conditions.

"It's a really good sign for me," Sabalenka said. "If I could do it here, I can do it on the clay court. And that's what's important."

Finding the tactical balance on court has been aided by the balance she's found off it. Since the start of the Cincinnati Open, Sabalenka has lost just one match, winning three of the four tournaments she's played.

In each of the finals, against Jessica Pegula in Cincinnati and the US Open, and Zheng in Wuhan, Sabalenka faced a home favorite and an adverse crowd. She's been given plenty of chances to crack, to overreact, to let her mind get cloudy, yet she never flinched. She credits her growing ability to balance work and play for her ability to stay mentally fresh at the end of the season.

As she looks to prepare for her fourth straight WTA Finals, Sabalenka says she won't be stressing about her preparation.

"It's all about balance, because we play a lot throughout the year," Sabalenka said. "It's a lot of tough battles, tough things to overcome. It's a lot of challenges. To be prepared on your highest level, it's important to have that off time, quality time, so when you're in the tournament you're able to give your all and then after the tournament you can rest for a little bit and you start everything over again. I think it's all come with experience, to understand myself.

"I don't know how I was able to just change this mentality because two, three years ago, I was a completely different player."

Here is a breakdown of more from the week that was in Wuhan:

Honor Roll

Zheng Qinwen: Despite falling to Sabalenka in the Wuhan final, Zheng hit some new peaks over the past three weeks in her home country. At the China Open just over a week ago, she made her first WTA 1000 semifinal in her national capital of Beijing.

The World No.7 went one better in Wuhan, becoming the second Chinese player to make a WTA 1000 final. Li Na made four WTA 1000 finals and won the 2012 Cincinnati title -- but Zheng is the first from their country to make a WTA 1000 final at a Chinese event.

"After this loss, I'm feeling excited because I am doing better each time," Zheng said after pushing Sabalenka into a third set for the first time in their four meetings. "There's more room for improvement. I hope that I can close the gap and also can overcome this challenge."

Wang Xinyu: Already a Grand Slam champion in doubles, 23-year-old Wang posted her best career singles result by making the Wuhan semifinals. She ousted World No.3 Pegula en route before falling to Zheng.

"Looking at this, I became more confident in myself," Wang said after her week came to a close. "I see things I can improve on through these matches. This is a big encouragement for me."

Magdalena Frech: This past week, the 26-year-old from Poland continued her recent surge and is now a newly minted Top 25 player. Frech made her first career WTA 1000 quarterfinal in Wuhan, and overall, she has won 10 of her past 12 matches.

Hailey Baptiste: The 22-year-old from Washington, D.C. earned her first career Top 10 win by ousting Barbora Krejcikova to make the Wuhan Round of 16. Baptiste moves up to No.80 in the PIF WTA Rankings, a big jump her previous career-high of No.96.

Anna Danilina and Irina Khromacheva: The surging doubles duo won their first WTA 1000 team title in Wuhan. The pair has won 13 of their past 14 matches.

Hot Shot

Marta Kostyuk triumphed at net en route to a narrow win over Elina Avanesyan in Wuhan:

Notable Numbers

3: Aryna Sabalenka has won the title at the past three editions of the Wuhan Open (2018, 2019 and 2024). She is the second player after Serena Williams at Miami (2013, 2014 and 2015) to win a WTA 1000 tournament in three consecutive editions.

17: Sabalenka is a perfect 17-0 at Wuhan throughout her career.

373: Zheng Qinwen is this year's new total ace leader on tour this season (373). Zheng entered Wuhan tied at the top with Elena Rybakina (336), but she slammed 37 aces during her run to the Wuhan runner-up trophy.

1: Mirra and Erika Andreeva met in the Wuhan second round, becoming the first pair of sisters to face each other at a Hologic WTA Tour event since Serena Williams defeated Venus Williams at 2020 Lexington. In Wuhan, older sister Erika upset No.16 seed Mirra to make the Round of 16.

From the Camera Roll

Win, lose or draw, Olympic champion Zheng was the star of the show at the Wuhan Open.

Next Up

The Asian swing continues this week, as players aim for more precious ranking points before the Hologic WTA Tour season comes to a conclusion with the WTA Finals Riyadh.

Ningbo, China hosts the Ningbo Open, which is the penultimate WTA 500 tournament of the year. Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen and reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova are the top seeds.

Ningbo: Scores | Order of Play | Draws | 411 

The Hologic WTA Tour also heads to Japan for the first time this year, as the WTA 250 Kinoshita Group Japan Open takes place in Osaka. Ashlyn Krueger is back in an attempt to defend her first WTA title, and she will face No.5 seed Elina Avanesyan in the first round.