Sabalenka and Rybakina knocked out of China Open

World number two Aryna Sabalenka was eliminated from the China Open on Sunday after a straight-sets defeat by Czechia's 34th-ranked Nikola Bartunkova. Al Jazeera, BBC Sport, and Yahoo Sports reported that Bartunkova won the third-round match 6-4, 6-3 in Beijing. The loss leaves the WTA 1000 tournament without both of its top two seeds. [1][2][3][4][11]

Al Jazeera reported that 20-year-old Bartunkova hit four aces during the one-hour and 35-minute match against Sabalenka, who is a four-time Grand Slam champion. Following her victory, Bartunkova praised Sabalenka as a legend and stated that she was happy to win the match. Bartunkova will next face Sinja Kraus of Austria in the round of 16. [1][12]

Sabalenka's elimination follows top seed Elena Rybakina's departure from the tournament a day earlier. BBC Sport and Yahoo Sports reported that Rybakina was defeated in her first match as world number one by Armenian world number 118 Alina Charaeva. Rybakina had recently defeated Sabalenka in the US Open final to take the top spot in the WTA rankings. [1][3][5][6][13]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, Sabalenka was ousted shortly after Rybakina's early exit from the event. The China Open is an annual hardcourt tennis tournament organised by the Chinese Tennis Association and held at the China National Tennis Center in Beijing. [11][14]