Zheng Qinwen hits a return during the women's singles final match between Zheng Qinwen of China and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the 2024 Wuhan Open tennis tournament in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Oct. 13, 2024. [Xinhua/Hu Jingwen]

Aryna Sabalenka secured her third straight Wuhan Open title with a hard fought victory over Zheng Qinwen in Sunday’s final.

The Wuhan final definitely brought some positive points to the Chinese and showed her that she could compete against the three-time Grand Slam champion. But the outcome was again the same and the Belarusian now has a 4-0 head-to-head against the same player she beat in this year's final at Melbourne Park.

Olympic champion takes a set off Aryna Sabalenka for first time before the Belarusian wins her third title in city where Zheng grew up.

WUHAN – Aryna Sabalenka became the first player to win the Wuhan Open three times by defeating local hero Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in the final on Oct 13. The top seed, who also triumphed at the event in 2018 and 2019, kept her undefeated record in Wuhan intact, improving to a perfect 17-0.

Heading into the Wuhan final, the Belarusian owns a 3-0 head-to-head against Zheng, having handed the 22-year-old straight-set defeats in each of the last two US Open editions, as well as this year's Australian Open final.

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka had seven aces, 32 winners and shook off a second-set blip against Qinwen Zheng to win the Wuhan Open title for the third straight time.