WUHAN, China — Aryna Sabalenka extended her winning streak in Wuhan to 20 matches with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over eighth seed Elena Rybakina on Friday to reach the semifinals of the WTA 1000-level tournament.
The US Open champion won the Wuhan Open title in 2018, 2019 and again last year on her return to the Chinese city.
Top-ranked Sabalenka broke Rybakina’s serve three times during the 1-hour, 25-minute match to advance to the semifinals for the 11th time this season, then waved and blew kisses to the crowd.
It was also comfortable for third-seeded Coco Gauff, who advanced to a second straight semifinal with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Laura Siegemund.
The American lost to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova in the last four matches at the China Open last week.
Gauff will next face either No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek or Jasmine Paolini, who were playing in the late match.
Sabalenka will face sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula, who earlier Friday advanced to a third set for a seventh straight match. She lost the first set to Katerina Siniakova before winning the next two for a 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory.
Pegula is coming off victories against No. 9 Ekaterina Alexandrova and fellow American Hailey Baptiste, when she needed seven match points to clinch the victory.
