Sabalenka rallies past Gauff in China

Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka rallied from a slow start to beat an in-form Coco Gauff 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals to advance to her third straight Wuhan final and preserve her perfect record at the tournament.

Sabalenka will face seventh-ranked Zheng Qinwen in the final, where she will be bidding for her fourth title of the season, which includes the Australian Open and U.S. Open.

The Belarusian's 16th straight victory at Wuhan ended Gauff's own recent win streak at nine, including the China Open title last week. But it looked anything but certain for Sabalenka as she crashed 6-1 in the opening set.

In a fight between the last two U.S. Open champions, Gauff led by a break early in the second but Sabalenka responded to pull level at 4-4 and saved a break point on serve to take a 5-4 lead.

Serving to stay in the set, Gauff was broken as Sabalenka hit a lunging forehand volley to force a deciding set.

The Belarussian carried her momentum into the third, extending her streak to seven games for a 3-0 lead. Gauff fought back to level at 4-4, but Sabalenka held strong to halt Gauff’s run.

Sabalenka broke once more after Gauff hit her 21st double fault on match point, ending the 2 1/2-hour match.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis