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

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.

Aryna Sabalenka lost her focus and was her own worst enemy at times during her 6-3 5-7 6-3 win over home favourite Zheng Qinwen in the Wuhan Open final, the world number two said on Sunday. Sabalenka eased through the opener but lost some control in the second set against the Paris Olympics gold medallist before securing her third straight title in Wuhan.

Aryna Sabalenka on Sunday 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.

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.

WUHAN, China, Oct 13 (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.

Aryna Sabalenka credits her recent victory at the Wuhan Open to a key lesson learned from her US Open defeat to Coco Gauff. Sabalenka, who fell to Gauff amidst intense crowd pressure at Flushing Meadows,

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Qinwen Zheng in the Wuhan Open final, winning with a score of 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. This victory marks Sabalenka’s fourth title of the year and her fourth on hard courts, adding to her earlier wins at the Australian Open,