Aryna Sabalenka has been knocked out of the China Open in Beijing after Nikola Bartunkova claimed a 6-4, 6-3 third-round victory, leaving the WTA 1000 tournament without either of its top two seeds before the last 16.
Bartunkova, the 20-year-old Czech player ranked world No. 34 and seeded 26th in Beijing, delivered the biggest win of her career in one hour and 35 minutes. The WTA reported that she broke Sabalenka’s serve in the opening game, protected that advantage through a pivotal first set, then made the decisive move again early in the second.
Second seed Sabalenka created five break points in the match but did not convert any of them. Bartunkova saved all five in the sixth game of the first set, when holding would preserve her 4-2 lead. She subsequently served out the set at 6-4.
In the game after surviving those five break points, Bartunkova missed three opportunities to move two breaks clear. The missed chances did not prove costly: the WTA reported that she held each of her last two service games to love, preventing Sabalenka from creating a further opening before the set ended.
The Czech then broke for 3-1 in the second set and did not face another break point. A further break in the ninth game completed the 6-3 second set and sent her into the fourth round.
Bartunkova takes her chance against second seed
The match was shaped by Bartunkova’s ability to establish an early lead in each set and then deny Sabalenka a route back. The WTA said the Czech converted three of her eight break-point opportunities, while Sabalenka was unable to make her five chances count.
Sabalenka acknowledged after the match, according to the WTA, that Bartunkova moved well and served effectively. She said the conditions made returning difficult and accepted that she had not played well enough on the key points.
Bartunkova said she had focused on staying calm and concentrating on her own game. She described Sabalenka as a legend and said she was pleased with the result.
The victory was Bartunkova’s second career win over a top-10 opponent, the WTA reported. Her previous such result came against Belinda Bencic at this year’s Australian Open. It also takes Bartunkova into the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event for the second time in her career, after she reached the same stage in Rome.
For Sabalenka, the loss extends a difficult pattern when she drops the opening set. The WTA said she has now lost six successive matches after losing the first set, and that her overall record in those situations in 2026 stands at three wins and seven defeats. That context does not explain a single defeat, but it underlines the importance of Bartunkova’s composed opening-set finish after Sabalenka had generated opportunities to level matters.
China Open draw opens after top-two exits
Bartunkova will next play Austria’s Sinja Kraus for a place in the quarter-finals. Kraus reached the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Dayana Yastremska, according to the WTA.
Sabalenka’s departure follows the elimination of top seed Elena Rybakina in the second round a day earlier. BBC Sport reported that Rybakina, the world No. 1, lost to Armenia’s Alina Charaeva. As a result, neither of the tournament’s top two seeds will feature in the round of 16.
That is a rare outcome in Beijing. The WTA said the last occasion on which the China Open’s two leading seeds both failed to make the last 16 was 2015. Neither of the top two seeds will feature in the round of 16.
Bartunkova’s immediate task is to build on a result achieved through control in the critical moments rather than look beyond her next match. Sabalenka, meanwhile, leaves Beijing after a contest in which she had enough break-point chances to change the momentum but could not convert them against an opponent who remained secure on serve when it mattered.