China Open loses its top two women’s seeds
Aryna Sabalenka fell in straight sets to Nikola Bartunkova, a day after Elena Rybakina’s second-round exit.
The China Open women’s draw is without its top two seeds after Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina were eliminated in successive rounds.
Czech player Nikola Bartunkova, ranked 34th, beat second seed Sabalenka 6-4, 6-3 in the third round on Sunday. The match lasted one hour and 35 minutes.
Sabalenka, a former world number one and four-time Grand Slam champion, had five chances to break Bartunkova’s serve in the sixth game of the first set but could not convert them. Bartunkova advances to the round of 16, where she is scheduled to play Austria’s Sinja Kraus.
Rybakina, who replaced Sabalenka as world number one last month, was beaten by unseeded Alina Charaeva in the second round on Saturday. The supplied account gives no score for that match.
The results leave the tournament without its top two women’s seeds. The China Open is also hosting a men’s 500-level event.
