Sabalenka overcomes determined Riske to retain Wuhan title

Mannarino beats Ramos-Vinolas in Zhuhai, faces De Minaur in final

Annemiek van Vleuten, of The Netherlands (center), winner of the women’s elite race, stands on the podium flanked by silver medallist Anna van Der Breggen, of The Netherlands (left), and bronze medallist Australia’s Amanda Spratt, at the road cycling World Championships in Harrogate, England

on Sept 28. (AP)

WUHAN, China, Sept 28, (Agencies): Belarusian ninth seed Aryna Sabalenka held off a spirited challenge from American Alison Riske to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 and successfully defend her Wuhan Open title on Saturday.

World number 14 Sabalenka raced past her unseeded opponent in the first five games of the final set before sealing victory with her 18th ace of the match.

Sabalenka, who rallied from a set down to beat Riske in the Shenzhen Open final earlier this year, started much more aggressively in Saturday’s final Sorana Cirstea.

The Belgian prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 after nearly 2-1/2 hours. The turning point came when she saved six break points at 1-0 down in the decider before breaking her Romanian opponent next game. It was the first time Van Uytvanck had won two titles in a season and she moves to 4-0 in career WTA finals. Her first title of 2019 came with a successful defense of the Budapest title in February.

The 29-year-old Cirstea had won both of her previous meetings with Van Uytvanck and was seeking her first tourlevel title since winning in Tashkent 11 years previously.

In Zhuhai, China, France’s Adrian Mannarino overcame a mid-match blip to beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 at the Zhuhai Championships on Saturday, advancing to his second tour-level final.

Mannarino, who now meets his Australian practice partner Alex de Minaur, started with a flourish as he reeled off the opening seven games to stamp his authority on the match.

Eighth-seeded Spaniard Ramos-Vinolas got on the scoreboard early in the second set and forced his way back into the contest with a crucial break of

Sabalenka

serve to force a decider.

But Mannarino’s lethal first-serve ensured he continued to dictate play in the final set as he claimed the last five games to progress after two hours and three minutes.

“Conditions are really humid here and it was really physical, but I was able to stay really concentrated,” the 31-year-old Mannarino said.

“Even if I lost the second set, I stayed consistent with a lot of energy in the third set.

“I finally got the break in a really close game at the beginning of the third set and that gave me a push up and I was able to finish well too. I hope I am going to keep going like this in the final.”

Mannarino is chasing his second ATP Tour title after winning the Libema Open in June at the age of 30 to become the oldest first-time champion on the men’s circuit this year.

The unseeded Frenchman, now 31, faces his longtime practice partner De Minaur for the first time in Sunday’s final.

After impressive wins over Andy Murray and Borna Coric, De Minaur stunned second seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-2.

“I’ve shown it today, I’ve got this level, the level I brought today,” 20-year-old seventh seed De Minaur said.

“If I can try to bring this level almost every week, then I’ll be going deep in tournaments and beating these top guys and pushing for titles.”