Ten party balls to touch the sky

Fernando Murciego - 14 Oct 2026 | 19:53
WTA Ann Li WTA Wuhan 2026 Aryna Sabalenka

Ann Li confesses what she felt on the central court in Wuhan before achieving the most important victory of her career. A match against Aryna Sabalenka that pushed her directly to the round of 16 in Wuhan.

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Ann Li, after defeating Sabalenka in the WTA Wuhan on her tenth match point: "I was about to lose my mind." Source: Getty

Look no further, Ann Li is the name of the day at the WTA 1000 in Wuhan. The 26-year-old American, working under Carlos Boluda, dominated the headlines this afternoon after defeating Aryna Sabalenka in her first match of the tournament.

Just looking at who was on the other side of the net is enough reason for Li to deserve our attention today, although this victory has been in the making for many months. Just looking at her season, her upward trend, and her assault on the top 30 makes it clear that the American has been signaling for some time with a performance of this magnitude. It happened in Wuhan, against the current world No. 2, and it was filled with a narrative full of excitement.

Li had to navigate a challenging path to defeat the three-time tournament champion. After losing the first set, she found herself down 2-4 in the second, but she responded with determination to turn the match around. In the third set, she had a lead of 5-2, although Sabalenka fought until the very end. At that moment, the American needed ten match points to secure a victory she had been seeking for a long time.

Ann Li, after defeating Sabalenka on the tenth match point: "I was about to lose my mind"

The very protagonist acknowledged the tension she experienced during the final moments of the match. "In some of those match points, I was about to lose my mind," she confessed in statements reported by WTA. Sabalenka managed to save nine opportunities before Li finally found a way to close the match with a winning forehand.

"In the end, you have to realize that I wasn't even playing that badly. She was just playing very well, so you can only take it point by point," explained the American, who found patience to be the necessary tool to survive an emotional rollercoaster. The result marks her third victory against a top 10 player and her first win against Sabalenka after four encounters. The triumph also holds special significance for Spanish tennis: Li is coached by Carlos Boluda, the Valencian coach who has been supporting her development on the professional circuit for a couple of seasons now.

At 26, the American continues to make strides forward, and Wuhan already guarantees that she will surpass her best historical ranking within the top thirty. She will now have the opportunity to extend her week against Janice Tjen, with the potential to reach the quarter-finals of a WTA 1000 for the first time. After knocking out one of the top favorites, she has plenty of reasons to dream.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Diez bolas de partido para tocar el cielo