WTA: Surprise quartet reaches semi-final in Wuhan

There will be four surprise semi-finalists at the WTA Premier 5 tournament in Wuhan. Anett Kontaveit, Aryna Sabalenka, Ashleigh Barty and Qiang Wang made it into the last four.

Ashleigh Barty is the only law in Wuhan’s semifinal. The Australian won against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three fierce sets. In the preliminary round, the 22-year-old meets Aryna Sabalenka.

The Belarusian won against Dominika Cibulkova from Halep with 7:5 and 6:3. Thus the number 20 of the world could qualify for the semifinals at her premiere in Wuhan. But that’s not the end of the road for the 20-year-old.

“I played Barty at the Australian Open. She’s a great player. It won’t be easy,” says Sabalenka, who feels really comfortable in China. “Maybe the rice makes me stronger.”

In the second semi-final, 26-year-old Qiang Wang will face Estonian Anett Kontaveit. Wang, who is the first domestic player ever to reach the Wuhan semi-final, made short work of it with Olympic champion Monica Puig and won 6:3 and 6:1. After less than 70 minutes, the wildcard holder was the winner.

In her next game, the Chinese player is now looking for the 15th victory in a row on home ground. In order to achieve this, she must pass against Anett Kontaveit. The Estonian defeated Katerina Siniakova 6-4 and 6-4 in the last quarter-finals of the day.

The tableau of the Wuhan Open