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Poland's Iga Swiatek at the 2024 French Open and Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka at the 2024 US Open. Alain Jocard and Charly Triballeau, AFP/File

Poland's Iga Swiatek at the 2024 French Open and Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka at the 2024 US Open

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TENNIS

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1728484990030AFP__20240907__36FT67C__v1__Preview__TennisUsaOpen.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Belarus&#x27;s Aryna Sabalenka plays a return to USA&#x27;s Jessica Pegula during their women&#x27;s final match on day thirteen of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on September 7, 2024. Charly Triballeau, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Belarus&#x27;s Aryna Sabalenka plays a return to USA&#x27;s Jessica Pegula during their women&#x27;s final match on day thirteen of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on September 7, 2024. <em>Charly Triballeau, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>WUHAN, China -- World number two Aryna Sabalenka said on Wednesday she believes her rivalry with top-ranked Iga Swiatek is &quot;much-needed&quot; in women&#x27;s tennis.</p><p>The Belarusian advanced to the Wuhan Open third round by beating Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-4, her 50th victory of the season.</p><p>Swiatek is absent from the field in Wuhan and withdrew from the China swing after splitting with her coach of three years Tomasz Wiktorowski.</p><p>Sabalenka has a chance to close the gap on the Polish world number one with a strong run in Wuhan, with the battle for the top spot likely to come down to the wire at the season-ending championships in Riyadh next month.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/9/8/sabalenka-downs-pegula-to-win-us-open-thriller-1439">READ: &#x27;Super proud&#x27; Sabalenka downs Pegula to win US Open thriller</a></div><p>&quot;Having this rivalry with Iga is something big for tennis and something much-needed, I would say, in women&#x27;s tennis,&quot; said Sabalenka, who will face Yulia Putintseva in the last 16.</p><p>&quot;To keep this competition going would be really good for tennis,&quot; she said.</p><p>Sabalenka, 26, spent eight weeks at the summit of the rankings last season and says reclaiming the world number one spot is one of her biggest goals.</p><p>&quot;I hope she&#x27;ll figure out the coach situation and she&#x27;ll be back in the finals in her best shape,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;Hopefully we can play against each other there in... a fight for world number one.&quot;</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1728485032950AFP__20240608__34VY6XF__v1__HighRes__TennisFraOpen2024.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Poland&#x27;s Iga Swiatek serves to Italy&#x27;s Jasmine Paolini during their women&#x27;s singles final match on Court Philippe-Chatrier on day fourteen of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2024. Alain Jocard, AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Poland&#x27;s Iga Swiatek serves to Italy&#x27;s Jasmine Paolini during their women&#x27;s singles final match on Court Philippe-Chatrier on day fourteen of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros Complex in Paris on June 8, 2024. <em>Alain Jocard, AFP/File</em></span></span></span>Coco Gauff followed up her China Open title in Beijing on Sunday with a smooth 6-1, 6-2 win over Viktoriya Tomova.</div><p>Gauff has a seven-match winning streak and faces 13th seed Marta Kostyuk in the last 16.</p><p>Kostyuk received a walkover after her opponent Amanda Anisimova withdrew with a left hip injury.</p><p>&quot;Both mentally and physically I&#x27;m a little tired, if I&#x27;m being honest,&quot; said Gauff. &quot;But when I got on the court, I felt fine.</p><p>&quot;How I approached Beijing, I was like, I want to approach this how I would play tennis as a kid.</p><p>&quot;Sometimes I try to go back into that mindset and realize at the end of the day this is my dream now, and it was my dream as a kid.&quot;</p><p>Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova crashed out to American qualifier and world number 102 Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5 in just 94 minutes.</p><p>Seventh seed Krejcikova let a 3-1 lead slip in the opening set, as well as a 5-3 advantage in the second.</p><p>The 22-year-old Baptiste will next take on Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova for a place in the quarter-finals.</p><p>Hometown hero Zheng Qinwen moved past Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 6-4 to book a third-round meeting with Canadian left-hander Leylah Fernandez.</p><p>The victory boosts Olympic champion Zheng&#x27;s qualification chances for the WTA Finals in Riyadh as she tries to become the first Chinese player since Li Na in 2013 to reach the season-ending championships.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div></div><div></div>

<p>World number two Aryna Sabalenka said on Wednesday she believes her rivalry with top-ranked Iga Swiatek is "much-needed" in women's tennis.</p>

World number two Aryna Sabalenka said on Wednesday she believes her rivalry with top-ranked Iga Swiatek is "much-needed" in women's tennis.

Sabalenka relishes 'much-needed' tennis rivalry with Swiatek

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Sabalenka relishes 'much-needed' tennis rivalry with Swiatek

Agence France-Presse

Published Oct 10, 2024 02:30 AM PHT

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tennis

Wuhan Open

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Aryna Sabalenka

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