Second-seeded Sabalenka squandered five chances to break serve in the sixth game of the first set, with Bartunkova strong on defence and firing deep, in Beijing on October 4, 2026 [Pedro Pardo/AFP]By AFPPublished On 4 Oct 20264 Oct 2026Aryna Sabalenka was swatted aside in straight sets by 34th-ranked Nikola Bartunkova in the third round of the China Open, leaving the event without its top two seeds as world number one Elena Rybakina was ousted in the second round.
Czech player Bartunkova, 20, sent down four aces to beat the former world number one 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 35 minutes on Sunday.
“She’s a legend … so I’m really happy that I won the match,” she said of the four-time Grand Slam champion.
Bartunkova next faces Austria’s Sinja Kraus in the round of 16.
Second-seeded Sabalenka squandered five chances to break serve in the sixth game of the first set, with Bartunkova strong on defence and firing deep.
The 28-year-old from Belarus threw on a cap for the eighth game of the first set as the women switched between playing in the shade and the sun, but it did not turn the tide in her favour.
A frustrated Sabalenka tossed her racquet at a break down in the fourth game of the second set, and lost on the first match point when she returned into the net.
Earlier on Saturday, Elena Rybakina – who replaced Sabalenka as the world number one last month – was ousted by Alina Charaeva in the second round.
Top seed Alexander Zverev was scheduled to play Novak Djokovic later on Sunday in the quarterfinals of the men’s 500-level event also taking place.
The 39-year-old Serbian great enters the match with an extraordinary unbeaten streak in Beijing, but Zverev — last month’s US Open champion — is in the running for the top men’s ranking.
