Beijing, Oct 4 (IANS) World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka was stunned in the third round of the China Open by the Czech Republic’s Nikola Bartunkova in straight sets on Sunday.
One day after World No. 1 Elena Rybakina was ousted from the tournament, Sabalenka followed suit with a 4-6, 3-6 defeat in 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Bartunkova, ranked World No. 34, broke Sabalenka thrice in the match and did not lose her serve as she marked her second win over a Top 10 player, with her previous coming against the then No. 10 Belinda Bencic in the second round of the Australian Open 2026.
“First of all, I focused on myself to be calm. Aryna is great. She’s a legend. She’s a Grand Slam Champion. I’m really happy I won the match,” Bartunkova said after her win over Sabalenka.
The 20-year-old began the match by breaking Sabalenka in the first set and then had to save five break points in the sixth game to go 4-2 up.
Bartunkova had a great chance to go for a double break in the next game but missed three chances. However, she went on to close the set with two service game holds for love for a 6-4 win.
She then broke Sabalenka again in the second set and was 3-1 up. She held her serves and broke the World No.2 again in the ninth game while not facing a break point of her own to win the second one 6-3.
Meanwhile, this marked yet another instance of Sabalenka failing to impress in Beijing. She has not made it past the quarterfinals in her five main-draw appearances in the tournament.
Following Sabalenka’s exit, the women’s field will not have a single top-two seed in the round of 16. This is the first time in 12 years that the top two seeds failed to feature in the round of 16 at the China Open. It last happened in 2015 when top seed Simona Halep and No. 2 seed Petra Kvitova failed to make it to the pre-quarters.
–IANS
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