Nikola Bartunkova broke Aryna Sabalenka in the opening game on Sunday, saved five break points in the sixth and did not face another for the rest of the match. The 20-year-old Czech won 6-4, 6-3 in 1 hour, 35 minutes, and the China Open had lost its No. 2 seed one day after losing its No. 1.
On Saturday night, world No. 118 Alina Charaeva came from a set down to beat Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in Rybakina’s first match since she took the No. 1 ranking. Rybakina closed the first set with a backhand return winner for 5-3 and a love hold, and went up a break at 2-1 in the second, according to the WTA. Charaeva broke straight back with a forehand winner, and a backhand passing shot later earned her a fourth break and the set. In the third, she broke for 4-2 when Rybakina sent a backhand wide, held to love and served it out.
“It’s kind of a dream come true,” Charaeva said in her post-match interview. “I was just trying to stay really hard mentally and keep believing that at some point I could turn it around again to my side. And I guess I just never stopped believing.”
Charaeva converted five of eight break points and won 76% of the points behind her first serve, Reuters reported, while Rybakina served seven double faults over 2 hours, 11 minutes. It was Charaeva’s 17th tour-level main-draw match. Her best previous win by ranking had come against No. 31 Wang Xinyu earlier this year, according to the WTA.
Rybakina, who beat Sabalenka in the US Open final last month, said the weeks since New York had caught up with her. “There was a lot going on after the US Open victory. I didn’t get a lot of chances to sleep and recover,” she said. “Congratulations to Alina. She played a very good match, and I felt my foot a little bit at the end of the match. So it’s time to rest a little bit and see what is next in the upcoming weeks.”
She said she would take a week to rest “and hopefully get my foot back to 100% so I can compete in the following tournaments to complete the 2026 season.” She did not name her next event. The last WTA 1000 of the season is in Wuhan.
The second upset. Sabalenka’s chance came in the sixth game of the first set, when she held five break points and took none of them. Bartunkova held her next two service games to love to close out the set, broke for 3-1 in the second and broke again in the ninth game to finish it. Sabalenka converted none of her break points in the match. Bartunkova converted three of eight.
“She is very talented, and moves well on court,” Sabalenka said. “She also serves well so you have to convert your chances against her. She can serve really well and to return from shade or sun is tricky. I wasn’t good at this today.”
Sabalenka has now played five main draws in Beijing without reaching a semifinal. Her three quarterfinals there ended against Wang Qiang in 2018, Rybakina in 2023 and Karolina Muchova in 2024, according to the WTA. It was also her sixth straight loss after dropping the first set. The last time she came back from a set down was in Berlin, and the opponent was Bartunkova.
What it means. It is the first time since 2015 that neither of the top two seeds has reached the last 16 in Beijing, the WTA said. That year Simona Halep lost to Lara Arruabarrena and Petra Kvitova lost to Sara Errani. Rybakina is the second woman to lose her first match as world No. 1, after Naomi Osaka lost to Kristina Mladenovic in Dubai in 2019 and the WTA counts Charaeva as only the ninth player ranked outside the Top 100 to beat a world No. 1 since the rankings began in 1975. No player ranked as low had ever beaten a world No. 1 after losing the first set.
Who is left. Coco Gauff, the No. 3 seed and 2024 champion, is now the highest seed in the draw. She plays 16-year-old wild card Sun Xinran, the junior world No. 1 and US Open girls’ champion, on Monday. Iga Swiatek, the No. 8 seed and 2023 champion, was drawn in Gauff’s quarter.
Bartunkova, the No. 26 seed and at a career-high No. 34, plays Austria’s Sinja Kraus for a place in the quarterfinals after Kraus beat Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 6-4. Her only previous win over a Top 10 player came against Belinda Bencic at this year’s Australian Open, where she was making her Grand Slam debut as a qualifier. Charaeva plays Britain’s Sonay Kartal in the third round on Monday, according to the LTA.
For dates, prize money and how to watch, see the China Open guide.
