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Aryna Sabalenka’s poor run continues with surprise second-round defeat in Wuhan

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a stunning second-round exit at the Wuhan Open, extending her recent struggles with a 3–6, 6–4, 7–6(5) loss to unseeded Ann Li.

Despite holding nine match points and dominating early, Sabalenka faltered in the final set, committing 44 unforced errors to Li’s 28 as the American capitalized on a late break to secure her career-high victory. The defeat marks Sabalenka’s first back-to-back losses in 18 months and follows a disappointing season, including a US Open final loss and the loss of her world No.

1 ranking to Elena Rybakina last month. Her exit came just days after a surprise first-round defeat at the China Open to rising Czech star Nikola Bartunkova, compounding a year without a title since her March ‘Sunshine Double’ at Indian Wells and Miami—her first such drought since 2022.

Meanwhile, second seed Jessica Pegula, last year’s Wuhan runner-up, also crashed out in her first match since the US Open, falling 2–6, 7–6(7), 6–3 to Jelena Ostapenko in a match where Pegula squandered three match points in the decider.

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Ann Li speaks on court after beating Aryna Sabalenka on her 10th match point in 'crazy' game in Wuhan