Bartunkova ousts Sabalenka as China Open loses top two seeds

Nikola Bartunkova knocked Aryna Sabalenka out of the China Open on Sunday, winning 6-4, 6-3 in Beijing to reach the last 16. The WTA confirmed that the Czech player, seeded 26th, defeated the second seed in the third round. The result followed the previous day's elimination of top seed Elena Rybakina.

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Sabalenka could not turn her opportunities on return into a foothold in the match. According to BBC Sport, she failed to convert all five of her break points and threw her racquet after going a break down early in the second set. Bartunkova completed the victory in straight sets against the world number two.

The successive defeats have removed the tournament's two leading seeds before the fourth round. BBC Sport reported that this had not happened at the China Open since 2015. Rybakina had lost to Armenia's Alina Charaeva, ranked 118th, a day before Bartunkova's win. Rybakina had beaten Sabalenka in last month's US Open final and taken over the number one ranking.

For Sabalenka, Beijing extends a run without a title stretching back to March, when she won Indian Wells and Miami in consecutive tournaments. The BBC noted that she will finish a season without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2022. Her US Open final appearance did not end that wait for another major trophy.

Bartunkova's WTA record offers context for the 20-year-old's progress. Ranked 34th, she reached the third round at this year's Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. She also made the Monterrey semi-finals and the Berlin quarter-finals. In Beijing, the WTA's tournament record lists a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Magdalena Frech before her meeting with Sabalenka, giving her consecutive straight-set wins.

The two players had already met in Berlin this season, where Sabalenka won their quarter-final in three sets, according to the match history listed by Tennis.com. This time Bartunkova advanced without a deciding set. BBC Sport reported that she will next face Austria's Sinja Kraus for a place in the China Open quarter-finals.