The Belarusian was unable to capitalise on her rival Yelena Rybakina’s early exit in the race for the number one spot.
Opportunity missed: Aryna Sabalenka was unable to capitalise on Yelena Rybakina’s exit and also suffered an early defeat at the WTA tournament in Beijing. The second-seeded Belarusian suffered a surprise third-round defeat to the world number 34, Nikola Bartunkova from the Czech Republic after 1 hour and 35 minutes, losing 4–6, 3–6.
Rybakina, who had recently displaced Sabalenka from the world number one spot with her US Open title, had been knocked out on Saturday by world number 118 Alina Charayeva. Sabalenka could have reduced the gap in the race for the top spot with a strong performance in Beijing – but has now lost to Bartunkova, who is just 20 years old.
“I focused on myself, on staying calm,” said Bartunkova after her victory over the four-time Grand Slam winner: “She’s a legend…, so I’m really happy that I won the match.” In the round of 16, the Czech player will face the Austrian Sinja Kraus.
Sabalenka failed to capitalise on five break points in the sixth game of the first set. In the second set, she lost her serve early on and threw her racket in frustration. Bartunkova converted her first match point to secure victory when Sabalenka’s return landed in the net.