China Open 2026: Nikola Bartunkova stuns Aryna Sabalenka in third-round clash
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "China Open 2026: Nikola Bartunkova stuns Aryna Sabalenka in third-round clash")
Czech Republic's Nikola Bartunkova celebrates her victory Photograph: (AFP)
World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock third-round defeat at the China Open, losing in straight sets to Czech player Nikola Bartunkova.
World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock third-round defeat at the China Open after Czech Republic’s Nikola Bartunkova beat her in straight sets on Sunday (Oct 4). A day after World No. 1 Elena Rybakina was knocked out, Sabalenka also exited the tournament following a 6-4, 6-3 loss to the 20-year-old in 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Bartunkova, ranked 34th in the world, broke Sabalenka three times and did not drop her own serve throughout the match. The win was her second career victory over a Top 10 player, after defeating then-World No. 10 Belinda Bencic at the 2026 Australian Open.
"First of all, I focused on myself to be calm. Aryna is great. She's a legend. She's a Grand Slam Champion. I'm really happy I won the match," Bartunkova said after the match.
Bartunkova made a strong start by breaking Sabalenka in the opening set. She then saved five break points in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead.
The Czech player had three chances to break again in the following game but could not convert them and she remained composed, won her next two service games to love and closed out the first set 6-4.
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Bartunkova continued her impressive display in the second set, breaking Sabalenka early to move 3-1 ahead. She protected her serve and broke the Belarusian again in the ninth game. Bartunkova did not face a single break point in the set as she completed a 6-3 win.
Sabalenka’s early exit continues her disappointing record in Beijing and she has now failed to reach the quarterfinals in all five of her main-draw appearances at the China Open.
With Sabalenka and Rybakina both eliminated, neither of the top two seeds will feature in the round of 16. It is the first time in 12 years that the China Open has lost both top seeds before the pre-quarterfinal stage.
The last such instance came in 2015, when top seed Simona Halep and second seed Petra Kvitova failed to reach the last 16.
With inputs from agencies