Sabalenka bags top ranking with comeback win at Wuhan Open

Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka rallied from a set down to beat No. 35 Yulia Putintseva 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 to maintain her undefeated record at the Wuhan Open and rise to the top of the WTA rankings.

Thursday's win for the Belarusian allowed her to regain top spot in the rankings from Iga Swiatek, who is absent from the women's Asian swing citing personal reasons and fatigue.

Sabalenka, the U.S. Open champion, is 14-0 in Wuhan after winning the title on her first appearance in 2018 and defending her crown in 2019 before the tournament took a five-year hiatus from the calendar due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The three-time major winner started slowly but roared to life during the second set and carried that momentum through the decider to clinch a quarterfinal spot against Beatriz Haddad-Maia or Magdalena Frech.

Sabalenka finished with 44 winners to 33 unforced errors, while holding Putintseva to 13 winners and 14 unforced errors.

Coco Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-1 rout of 17th-ranked Marta Kostyuk.

It was the fourth-ranked Gauff's eighth consecutive win after the American won the China Open last week which moved her back into the top five in the rankings.

Gauff fired two aces and broke the Ukrainian's serve five times — for the loss of one of her own — as she clinched a one-sided match and extended her lead in their head-to-head series to 3-1.

Next for Gauff is No. 45-ranked Magda Linette, who continued her impressive form this week by beating eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-3.

"She's a tough opponent," Gauff said of Linette. "We haven't played since (the U.S. Open in 2021). I really don't know what to expect. But just from watching her play, she's been playing a great couple of matches here in Wuhan.

"I expect it to be a tough match. She's not an easy opponent."

Gauff will be the only American left in the draw after third-ranked Jessica Pegula and tour rookie Hailey Baptiste lost.

Pegula, the U.S. Open finalist, had a tough afternoon against the 51st-ranked Wang Xinyu of China, who was dominant on serve throughout and clinched a 6-3, 7-5 win.

Wang had won their only previous meeting in three sets in the second round at Wimbledon and got off to a fast start here by breaking Pegula twice in the opening set to take the lead.

After her first win over a top-10 player in the previous round, Baptiste was routed by Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 6-1.

Paris Olympics gold medalist Zheng Qinwen rallied to beat Leylah Fernandez 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 and sixth-ranked Jasmine Paolini defeated Erika Andreeva 6-3, 6-2.