Wuhan Open 2024: Gauff building momentum, US Open finalist Pegula out

Coco Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals of the Wuhan Open with a 6-4, 6-1 rout of 17th-ranked Marta Kostyuk in just over an hour on Thursday.

It was the fourth-ranked Gauff’s eighth consecutive win on the WTA Tour’s Asian swing 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.

“I’m really happy with how I played today,” Gauff said. “It was a pretty straightforward match. Marta and I always have some good battles. Today I was able to get through in straight sets.” 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.

“Yeah, so 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.

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“I expect it to be a tough match. She’s not an easy opponent to play.” Gauff will be the only American left in the draw after third-ranked Jessica Pegula and tour rookie Hailey Baptiste both 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 to make her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

Wang had won their only previous meeting in three sets in the second round at Wimbledon earlier this year 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 6-1, 6-1 by Ekaterina Alexandrova.

The 22-year-old American was broken six times by the No. 33-ranked Russian who clinched her quarterfinal berth against Wang in 63 minutes Later, second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka looked to maintain her undefeated record at the Wuhan Open when she plays Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in her third-round match.

A win for the Belarussian will allow her to regain top spot in the rankings from Iga Swiatek, who is absent form the women’s tour Asian swing citing personal reasons and fatigue.

Sabalenka, the reigning U.S. Open champion, is 13-0 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.