WUHAN, October 11, 2024 (Press Release)

Saturday is set to be a huge day at the DONGFENG VOYAH · WUHAN OPEN 2024, with Coco Gauff taking on Aryna Sabalenka in the first semi-final before an all-Chinese night session semi-final between Xinyu Wang and Wuhan local Qinwen Zheng.

It is a mouthwatering line up for the final four of the last WTA 1000 tournament of the 2024 season, with Grand Slam champions Gauff and Sabalenka, ranked four and two respectively, both coming into the semis on winning streaks and Wuhan guaranteed a Chinese finalist for the first time in the history of the tournament.

Gauff has not lost a match in China this year and Sabalenka has never lost a match in Wuhan. The pair has played seven times, with Gauff winning on four occasions – including the 2023 US Open final. Sabalenka won their only meeting this year, in the semi-finals of this year’s Australian Open.

Gauff notched up her ninth victory in a row to beat Magda Linette 60 64 in the first of Friday’s quarter-finals in Wuhan. “I’m really happy with how I played,” said Gauff. “Every day I’m running on fumes, I’m really tired and pushing myself to the limit; I guess we’ll find out where that limit is. I’m happy that I’m doing well these last few weeks in China.”

The 20-year-old American, seeded fourth in Wuhan, has been in imperious form in China recently, adding three wins so far in Wuhan to her tournament victory at last week’s China Open. Gauff now has a 13-1 win-loss record in this country, going back to last year’s China Open semi-final.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, has now won 15 matches in a row in the central Chinese city, having won the title in 2018 and 2019, the last year that the tournament was held.  The top seed beat Magdalena Frech 62 62, hitting a stunning 42 winners, a victory which also helped her campaign to end this season as World No.1.

“The score looks easy. It wasn’t an easy match,” said Sabalenka. “I can see how tricky she can be as opponent. She’s moving well, puts a lot of balls back. You have to build the point and finish it. There’s no easy points from her. I’m really glad I was able to win this match in straight sets. I didn’t want to play a three-hour match before facing Coco.”

On the other side of the draw, Qinwen Zheng has now reached two WTA 1000 semi-finals in a row, having also made the last four in Beijing last week. She has trained at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center and is adored in her home town. She played in front of an almost full house against two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini on Friday evening.  Zheng, a runner-up to Sabalenka at this year’s Australian Open, needed to draw inspiration from the crowd to overcome the talented Italian 62 36 63.

Zheng has never played Wang at tour level but knows her countrywoman well.  “It means we have a great player in China. I mean, our base level is higher than before, so that’s a good thing,” said Zheng. “It’s never easy to play against an opponent from the same country. There is a different pressure. I know that. I think we grow up basically playing in the same tournaments, playing in juniors. It’s going to be difficult for me because the player who arrives in semifinals never easy to beat. I’m just going to give my best and treat her like a normal opponent, and we will see what happens tomorrow.”

Wang also had to dig deep to outlast Ekaterina Alexandrova 46 75 76(6) and reach what will be her first WTA 1000-level semi-final. Wang enjoyed the enthusiastic support of her home crowd, who lived and breathed every point with her. “Of course, everybody loves coming back to their home country. I can feel the support from the crowd. There’s a lot of love and support,” she said. “But during a match, at critical moments, it really comes down to yourself. A lot of the times you just need to believe in yourself and to execute what you have in mind.”

Wuhan has only had one previous Chinese semi-finalist, Qiang Wang, who reached the last four in 2018. No Chinese player has ever reached the singles final.

Aryna Coco

Qinwen Xinyu

The #WuhanOpen semifinals are SET pic.twitter.com/ezEAdDKKTE

— wta (@WTA) October 11, 2024