Aryna Sabalenka struggled with her touch and rhythm early on in her Wuhan opener but ultimately managed to shake off the rust and come back from a set down to beat world No. 68 Rebecca Sramkova 4-6 6-3 6-1.
Playing in her first match since winning the US Open, the top-seeded Belarusian lost her serve twice and dropped the opening set.
A set from elimination, Sabalenka started to play better at the start of the second set and claimed a break in the fourth game. That one break of serve was enough for the defending champion to force a decider, where she broke Sramkova three more times to complete her comeback in just less than two hours of play.
In the Wuhan round-of-16, the Belarusian tennis star will play against No. 16 seed Liudmila Samsonova.
Sabalenka's Wuhan streak stays alive
Had Sramkova completed an upset against Sabalenka, she would have been the first player to beat the world No. 1 in Wuhan. In the past, the 27-year-old Belarusian enjoyed triumphant runs in all Wuhan appearances (2018, 2019, 2024). By registering her 18th consecutive win at the tournament, the defending champion achieved a notable feat.
18 – Aryna Sabalenka is the second player this Century to win her first 18 main draw matches at a single WTA level event after Caroline Wozniacki in New Haven (she won her first 20). Wow. #WuhanOpen | @wuhanopentennis @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/N5TCq7tkJ9
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) October 8, 2025
After arriving at the Chinese WTA 1000 tournament, the Belarusian noted she was well rested and ready to pull off a four-peat.
"I feel good. I just didn't want to rush my body into the tournament, so I think we made the right decision to take extra time for recovery and for the preparation, and now physically, I feel ready to go," Sabalenka said.
