 "World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka throws her racquet in frustration during her semi-final meeting with Jessica Pegula at the Wuhan Open in Wuhan, China. Reuters")
Aryna Sabalenka narrowly escaped disqualification over a dangerous incident from the ongoing Wuhan Open in Wuhan, China. The world No 1, who had successfully defended her US Open title in New York last month, had thrown her racquet in frustration after losing a crucial point during her semi-final meeting with USA’s Jessica Pegula, which resulted in the contest going into a tie-break in the deciding set.
Sabalenka’s racquet bounced off her bench and narrowly missed the cameraman while spiralling back towards the court. The Belarusian apologised immediately over the incident while receiving a warning from the chair umpire. Had the racquet hit the cameraperson or some one else present on court, the four-time Grand Slam champion would have been instantly disqualified from the tournament.
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Sabalenka’s narrow escape from a penalty, however, did not matter for much in the end. The racquet incident, after all, had derailed her focus, and with the momentum firmly in her opponent’s favour, she went on to lose the tie-breaker 2-7 to bow out of the WTA 1000 event in which she is a three-time defending champion.
Sabalenka had earlier been given a first-round bye, and fought back from a set down to defeat Rebecca Sramkova 4-6 6-3 6-1. She would then breeze through the next two rounds with straight-sets wins against Lludmila Samsonova (6-3 6-2) and Elena Rybakina (6-3 6-3) before running into Pegula in the semi-finals.
Pegula, runner-up in the US Open last year who currently occupies the sixth spot in the latest WTA rankings, faces fellow American Coco Gauff for the prestigious title on Sunday. World No 3 Gauff, who had won the Wimbledon earlier this year, had defeated the eighth-ranked Jasmine Paolini 6-4 6-3 in the other semi-final that took place on Saturday.