Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff will play each other in the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open in China on Saturday, after comfortable straight-set victories in Friday’s quarter-finals.

World No. 1 Sabalenka and world No. 4 Gauff will battle for a spot in Sunday’s Wuhan final, with the winner facing Wang Xinyu or Qinwen Zheng.

Great claimed her eighth WTA win in a row and 50th of the year with a 6-0 6-4 victory over Poland Magda Linette as the 20-year-old American chases back-to-back tournament successes following victory at last week’s China Open in Beijing.

While Gauff won the first set without losing a game, the American had to save four break points on her serve, with her return in the decisive moments ultimately proving too strong for Linette.

“I’m very happy with how I played,” said Gauff, who overcame eight double faults in the match.

“It was obviously a smooth first set. I had chances to maybe close the match 5-3 in the second, but I was happy to close the set with my serve.”

Sabalenka later advanced to her third consecutive semi-final in Wuhan by beating Polish opponent Magdalena Frech 6-2 6-2 in a one-sided match in which the Belarusian delivered 42 winners.

The 26-year-old won the previous two editions of the tournament, in 2018 and 2019, prior to his five-year absence from the calendar following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sabalenka vs Gauff for a place in Sunday’s final

Gauff held a 4-3 lead in the pair’s previous meetings and famously won the 2023 US Open final before Sabalenka got his revenge in the semi-final of this year’s Australian Open.

“We have played many matches in the past, many great battles,” Sabalenka said. “I’m really excited.”

While Sabalenka vs Gauff will dominate global headlines, the home fans’ attention will be focused on an all-Chinese match in the other semi-final.

Wang Xinyu fought back from losing the first set to defeat world number 33 Ekaterina Alexandrova 4-6 7-5 7-6 (8-6).

Fifth seed Qinwen Zheng then joined her compatriot in the last four by beating the Italian third seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2 3-6 6-3.

What’s in store for Sky Sports Tennis in October?

• Shanghai Masters – ATP 1000 (October 2-13)
• Wuhan Open – WTA 1000 (October 7-13)
• Almaty Open, Kazakhstan – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
• Stockholm Open, Sweden – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
• European Open, Antwerp – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
• Japan Open, Osaka – WTA 250 (October 14-20)
• Ningbo Open, China – WTA 500 (October 14-20)
• Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
• Swiss Indoors, Basel – ATP 500 (21-27 October)
• Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (October 21-27)
• Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, Tokyo – WTA 500 (October 21-27)

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to more than 50 percent more live sport at no extra cost this year. Read more here.