Aryna Sabalenka avoided disqualification from the Wuhan Open after the world No 1 threw her racket in anger, fortunately avoiding a ball boy, before eventually losing her semi-final to Jessica Pegula.
The world No 1 was bidding to win the tournament for the fourth consecutive time, after triumphs in 2018, 2019 and 2024.
Four years of the event were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sabalenka had been on course to reach the final after taking a 5-2 lead over Pegula in the third set.
The American, the Buffalo Bills heiress, impressively stormed back by breaking winning three straight games to level the match again.
Pegula continued her surge by coming out on top in a superb rally, with Sabalenka agonisingly putting a volley out to be broken for the second consecutive service game.
Aryna Sabalenka threw her racket after being broken by Jessica Pegula at the Wuhan Open
Sabalenka raised her hand in apology after nearly hitting a ball boy by the side of the court
The world No 1 received a warning but could have been disqualified had it hit the ball boy
A furious Sabalenka reacted to the error, which saw her fall 6-5 down, by throwing her racket angrily towards the players’ benches.
‘The racket goes flying and who has she hit there with the racket,’ Sky Sports commentator said responding to the incident.
‘That is dangerous territory for Sabalenka, this semi-final has exploded into life in the last 10 to 15 minutes.
‘Sabalenka gets a warning for the racket abuse, but she is lucky it is not more.’
Replays revealed that Sabalenka’s racket had missed both a cameraman and nearby ball boy, as it collided with a bench and bounced back towards the court.
Sabalenka, who immediately raised her hand in apology, would have been likely been defaulted from the match had the racket struck either.
The world No1 was handed a lifeline when Pegula double faulted four times when trying to serve out the match, which allowed Sabalenka to break back to force a tie break.
Sabalenka had won an extraordinary 19 consecutive tiebreaks, but was undone on this occasion as Pegula clinched a dramatic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory.
Replays showed the racket hitting one of the players’ benches and bounced back to the court
A frustrated Sabalenka eventually was beaten in a third set tie-break by Pegula in Wuhan
Sabalenka saw her 20 match win streak at the WTA 1000 tournament come to an end
Pegula will now face fellow American Coco Gauff in the Wuhan open final on Sunday
‘For what I did in the tie-break, I’m just really proud of myself,’ Pegula said post-match
‘I’ve played so much tennis the last few weeks, so many three-set matches, but I feel like I’m very tough right now and I’m just using that as best as I can.’
Pegula, who had lost her previous four matches against Sabalenka, will face Coco Gauff in the final of the WTA 1000 event.
Gauff earned a 6-4, 6-3 win over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in her semi-final match.
