According to statisticians Opta,, external Sabalenka is the fourth female player to win their first 20 main draw matches in a single WTA level event since 1990 after Monica Seles at the Australian Open (33-0), Steffi Graf in Leipzig (25-0) and Caroline Wozniacki in New Haven (20-0).

Sabalenka, who retained her US Open title in September, controlled the match against Rybakina, sealing the first set with a hold before breaking the Kazakh’s serve in the first game of the second.

Despite a few service wobbles in the closing stages, Sabalenka took a comfortable win to set up the match with Pegula – a player against whom she has won eight of her 10 meetings.

Asked about her consecutive wins at the tournament, four-time major winner Sabalenka said she feels a “really great connection” with the fans in China.

“I feel at home every time playing here. Honestly, that’s just crazy,” she said.

Sixth seed Pegula was a set down against Siniakova before fighting back to take the second set unchallenged. She then clinched the third set for her 50th win of the season, boosting her chances of qualifying for next month’s season-ending WTA Finals.

Pegula’s last seven matches have all gone to three sets, with the world number six losing just one of them. “I guess I’m in really good shape,” she said.

American Gauff, seeded third, converted five of eight break points against German Siegemund, and has only dropped nine games across three rounds in Wuhan so far.

The French Open champion and world number three, who was defeated by Amanda Anisimova in the China Open semi-finals last week, faces seventh seed Paolini next.

Italian Paolini, ranked eighth in the world, had lost her previous six matches against Poland’s Swiatek, but the 29-year-old took just 26 minutes to secure the opening set against the second seed on her way to a memorable victory.