The China Mail - Sabalenka sets up Gauff showdown in Wuhan semis

The top-seeded Sabalenka produced a 6-2, 6-2 performance against Poland’s Magdalena Frech to record her 15th consecutive win in Wuhan, where she was a champion in 2018 and 2019.

Gauff, the number four seed, eased past Poland's Magda Linette 6-0, 6-4 to extend her current winning streak to eight matches, having lifted the trophy at the China Open in Beijing last week.

One of those streaks will come to a halt on Friday when Sabalenka and Gauff meet for the eighth time.

Gauff leads their head-to-head 4-3 but lost their most recent encounter at the Australian Open semi-finals in January.

"I think the main thing is, once again, to focus on myself, focus on my footwork, go to the net, finish the point over there," said Sabalenka of her game plan against Gauff.

"On this slow surface, you have to go there. You have to be brave enough and finish the point there. I think that's the main plan. It worked really well in our last meeting, so I'll just stick to the plan. I'll try to put as much pressure as possible on her."

After getting off to a slow start in her previous round against Yulia Putintseva, Sabalenka came out firing in the quarter-finals, blasting 42 winners and just 14 unforced errors in her 83-minute victory over Frech.

The reigning Australian Open and US Open champion is not just chasing a three-peat in Wuhan, she is also trying to close the gap on Iga Swiatek at the top of the rankings.

Sabalenka will officially move up to the number one spot in the Race to the WTA Finals on Monday, but the year-end number one ranking will be decided at the season finale in Riyadh next month.

Earlier in the day, Olympic mixed doubles silver medallist Wang Xinyu advanced to the Wuhan semi-finals, where she awaits her fellow Chinese Zheng Qinwen or Italian third seed Jasmine Paolini.

In the first WTA 1000 quarter-final of her career, Wang battled for two hours and 50 minutes to overcome Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(8/6).

Wang fought back from 3-5 down in the deciding set and saved two match points before punching her ticket to the final four.

"I'm super happy that I made it to my first semi-final in China. It's extra special feeling for me. Playing in front of the home crowd here, I really enjoyed it," said the 23-year-old Wang.

"It was a really tough, tough match. Both of us, we left everything out there. It all came down to I think a few points, especially in the tiebreak."

N.Wan--ThChM