Aryna Sabalenka’s China Open campaign ended in the third round on Sunday, with the second seed beaten 6-4, 6-3 by 26th-seeded Nikola Bartunkova in Beijing.
Bartunkova controlled the straight-sets upset to remove another leading name from the Beijing draw, one day after newly crowned world No. 1 Elena Rybakina had also been eliminated.
Sabalenka, seeded second for the tournament, could not force a deciding set as Bartunkova closed out a 6-4 opening set and carried that advantage through the second, 6-3.
The result leaves Bartunkova through to the fourth round of the China Open, while Sabalenka exits before the latter stages of the WTA event.
