Jessica Pegula was twice broken while serving for the match in the third set but recovered to edge Hailey Baptiste in a tight tiebreaker Wednesday and advance at the Wuhan Open.
Sixth-seeded Pegula beat her fellow American 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6) on her seventh match point to reach the third round.
Pegula, who lost in the China Open semifinals last week, will next play ninth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova, who beat American Ann Li 7-6 (5), 6-2.
No. 3 Coco Gauff, coming off a semifinal loss to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova at the China Open, breezed into the next round with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Moyuka Uchijima in 51 minutes.
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No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova rallied to beat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, and qualifier Kateřina Siniaková beat Maya Joint 6-3, 6-1.
In the third round, Samsonova will face US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Rebecca Sramkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
The top-ranked Sabalenka has had an amazing run in Wuhan. Her record is 18-0 while winning titles in 2018, 2019 and 2024. She took a Greek holiday after her second consecutive win at Flushing Meadows and withdrew from last week’s China Open, another WTA 1000-level event.
“I feel good,” Sabalenka said on her arrival in Wuhan. “I just didn’t want to rush my body into the tournament. So I think we made the right decision to take extra time for recovery and for the preparation. Physically, I feel ready to go.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.