Aryna Sabalenka’s season started so well but it’s gone downhill ever since.
It was another early exit for Sabalenka as she lost in her opening match in Wuhan after a 3-6 6-4 7-6(5) defeat for Ann Li.
The American nearly let the lead slip but she converted her tenth match point to down the top seed and add more misery onto Sabalenka’s season.
After the match Li admitted she nearly lost her cool after letting so many match points slip but was happy to reach the third round, “I think on some of those match points I was about to lose my mind. I was about to crash out,” Li told the WTA website.
“In the end, you just have to realize — I didn’t even play that bad. I didn’t play bad. She just played really well. So you have to play point by point. And I knew that if I stayed there, I could get into that situation again, which is all you can ask for.”
As for Sabalenka it’s another disappointment after what was an exceptional start to the season which included winning the sunshine double.
However, there have been some very poor defeats for Sabalenka since then and leaves this season without a Grand Slam title to her name and most likely will concede the year-end world number one.
Meanwhile, Li will now face Janice Tjen for a place in the Wuhan quarter-finals.
