WUHAN, October 10, 2025 (Press Release)
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will continue her charge towards an historic fourth title at the DONGFENG • VOYAH WUHAN OPEN on Saturday with another semi-final at the Optics Valley Tennis Center, this time against World No. 6 Jessica Pegula.
Reigning Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff will take on World No. 8 Jasmine Paolini in the other semi-final to complete a stellar final four at the last WTA 1000 of the 2025 season. All four semi-finalists are either reigning Grand Slam champions (Sabalenka and Gauff) or have been Grand Slam finalists (Pegula and Paolini).
Paolini scored a huge upset win over World No. 2 Iga Swiatek on Friday, reversing their 2024 Roland Garros final and scoring her first ever win over the six-time Grand Slam champion in seven meetings. Paolini’s victory means that the Italian is closer to qualifying for the WTA Finals in Riyadh next month. It also dealt a hammer blow to Swiatek’s hopes of catching Sabalenka in the race to end the season as World No. 1.
WHAT A PERFORMANCE @JasminePaolini with a flawless display to defeat Swiatek 6-1, 6-2 and become a semifinalist in Wuhan
#WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/5WCL06UCII— wta (@WTA) October 10, 2025
“I have to say that I was enjoying every moment,” said Paolini. “I stepped on the court really focused and the crowd was really supporting me. I had the ideas more clear this time. I was so aggressive and I think that was the key.”
Sabalenka eased past another Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina in Friday’s quarter-finals with a tidy 6-3 6-3 win to set up another meeting with Pegula, whom she beat in last year’s US Open final and more recently in last month’s US Open semi-finals.
The victory extended Sabalenka’s winning streak in Wuhan to 20 matches and kept her on course to become only the second player in the last thirty years (after Monica Seles at the Canadian Open) to win the same top tier WTA tournament four times in a row.
“We played so many tough matches, so many, you know, important matches, so many matches where huge things were on the table,” said Sabalenka as she looked ahead to facing Pegula. “I have a lot of great memories. And I love playing her, because she really pushes me to the next level, and that’s what I love. And I love tough battles, so I’m super excited facing her.”
Pegula played her seventh straight three-set match and earned a typically resilient 2-6 6-0 6-3 win over Katerina Siniakova, which means that she is now on the brink of qualification for the WTA Finals.
Earlier, Gauff reached her second consecutive semi-final in Wuhan with an efficient 6-3 6-0 win over Laura Siegemund and said she was looking forward to playing Paolini, though she remained circumspect about the task at hand.
“Even though the finish line seems close, it’s far away,” said Gauff. “So although I’m in the semis it’s still a long way to even get to the final, and another long way to the trophy.”
