Aryna Sabalenka’s China Open title hopes ended in the third round on Sunday as 34th-ranked Czech player Nikola Bartunkova stunned the second seed in straight sets.
Bartunkova, 20, defeated the former world No. 1 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 35 minutes, sending the second of the tournament’s top two women’s seeds out of the competition.
The defeat came a day after top seed Elena Rybakina was eliminated in the second round by Alina Charaeva, leaving the China Open without both its leading women’s seeds.
Bartunkova produced four aces and held firm against Sabalenka’s powerful game, particularly when the Belarusian missed five break points in the sixth game of the opening set.
The Czech player defended effectively and repeatedly found depth with her groundstrokes to frustrate the four-time Grand Slam champion.
“I focused on myself, to be calm,” Bartunkova said after the victory.
“She’s a legend, so I’m really happy that I won the match,” she added.
Sabalenka struggled to regain momentum after losing the first set. The 28-year-old became increasingly frustrated and threw her racquet after going a break down in the fourth game of the second set.
She eventually lost on the first match point after returning into the net.
Bartunkova will face Austria’s Sinja Kraus in the round of 16.
The result adds to a surprise run of early exits for the tournament’s leading women’s players, with Rybakina, who replaced Sabalenka as world No. 1 weeks earlier, also falling before the third round.
Attention now turns to the men’s event, where top seed Alexander Zverev was scheduled to face 39-year-old Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
Djokovic enters the match with an unbeaten record in Beijing, while Zverev, who won the US Open last month, is seeking to strengthen his bid for the world No. 1 ranking.
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