Tennis-Sabalenka wins third straight Wuhan Open title after beating home favourite Zheng

WUHAN, China (Reuters) -Top seed Aryna Sabalenka shook off a second-set blip to win three back-to-back Wuhan Open titles after beating Chinese fifth seed and home favourite Zheng Qinwen 6-3 5-7 6-3 in the final on Sunday.

Sabalenka, who knocked out former U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff in the semi-finals on Saturday, banged down seven aces and 32 winners and did not face a single break point in the opening set.

The 26-year-old Belarusian now has the most aces in WTA-1000 this season, surpassing world number five Elena Rybakina.

Having won all three of their past meetings in straight sets, including the Australian Open final, world number two Sabalenka lost some control in the second set against the Paris Olympics gold medallist.

Just when Zheng, who was eyeing to become just the second Chinese player to claim a WTA-1000 title following her idol Li Na's triumph at 2012 Cincinnati, looked to cause an upset, Sabalenka raced up to a 3-0 double break lead in the decider.

Sabalenka eventually converted her third championship point to seal her fourth title of the year and take her overall WTA singles title haul to 17.

Sabalenka is the first player to win three successive Wuhan Open titles. "That sounds crazy, and this place definitely feels like home," Sabalenka said about the achievement.

"But first of all, I want to congratulate team Zheng on an incredible week for her. Her and her team are doing an amazing job, well done. I'm pretty sure we are going to play many more finals against each other.

"And of course, thank you guys (crowd) for coming and bringing an amazing atmosphere out there. Even though you were supporting her, I really enjoyed playing in front of you. I got support throughout the tournament, so thank you so much."

Sabalenka is targeting to reclaim the top ranking in the final weeks of the season, having already qualified for the season-ending WTA Finals along with world number one Iga Swiatek.

(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar and Hugh Lawson)