Beijing’s draw has opened up sharply after top seeds Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka were knocked out within a day of one another, but Linda Noskova and Mirra Andreeva kept their China Open campaigns moving with assured third-round victories. Noskova swept past Viktorija Golubic in 55 minutes, while Andreeva recovered from an early deficit to beat Polina Kudermetova and reach the last 16.
Noskova powers through Golubic
Fifth seed Noskova, the 2025 Beijing finalist and reigning Wimbledon champion, imposed herself from the opening exchanges in a 6-2, 6-1 win over Switzerland’s Golubic. The 21-year-old Czech struck 31 winners and gave Golubic little opportunity to construct the points she preferred.
- Noskova won 6-2, 6-1 in 55 minutes.
- She put 77% of first serves in play and lost only five points behind that delivery, all during the second set.
- Her lone difficult service game came at the start of set two, when she faced three break points after three unforced errors.
- Noskova escaped by claiming five points in succession, using three unreturned serves and two outright winners.
Her serve repeatedly created attacking opportunities on the next ball. Noskova varied the response, alternating powerful groundstrokes with drop shots and drive volleys, and later produced a sharply angled backhand volley winner after moving forward on return.
Andreeva turns defence into control
Fourth seed Andreeva faced a very different test against Kudermetova, the world No. 104 from Uzbekistan, whose aggressive game produced 25 groundstroke winners and two aces. Andreeva initially trailed 4-2 in the first set, but the Roland Garros champion reset the contest in difficult, windy conditions and completed a 6-4, 6-1 victory in 68 minutes.
The 19-year-old won 10 of the final 11 games. Although Kudermetova had the larger winner count, she also accumulated 48 unforced errors as Andreeva’s deep court coverage and defensive variety steadily closed off openings.
- Andreeva finished with nine winners, including six aces.
- Her unforced-error total fell from 12 in the first set to six in the second.
- She saved all five break points she faced in the second set.
- A backhand down the line and two aces featured in her escapes under pressure.
“I felt more comfortable standing a little farther behind the baseline,” Andreeva said after the match. “I was defending, getting plenty of balls back in the court. I thought that gave her problems. I knew I had to run for every ball and put it back however I could — with slices or drop shots, whatever was working.”
Fourth-round pairings take shape
Noskova will meet 19th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova for a place in the Beijing quarter-finals. Alexandrova overturned a set-and-a-break deficit against 11th seed Diana Shnaider, prevailing 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 for her third victory from four meetings with the Roland Garros semi-finalist.
A disguised angled slice winner at 2-1 down in the second set helped change the rhythm of a hard-hitting baseline contest, surprising Shnaider and setting up the break back that shifted momentum. For Alexandrova, 31, it is a second appearance in the last 16 at WTA 1000 level or higher this season, after Cincinnati, and her first such run in Beijing.
- Alexandrova and Noskova are level at 1-1 in their head-to-head record.
- Alexandrova won their only hard-court meeting, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2, in the 2025 Monterrey quarter-finals.
- Noskova answered with a 6-1, 6-1 clay-court win in Stuttgart this season.
Andreeva’s next opponent is Daria Snigur, whom she will play for the first time. Snigur needed only 47 minutes to dismiss Taylah Preston 6-1, 6-0, dropping just eight points in the second set. It marks the Ukrainian’s first trip to the fourth round at a WTA 1000 event, following earlier comeback wins from a set down over qualifier Katarzyna Kawa and 14th seed Jasmine Paolini.
Seeds fall as Beijing draw changes
The departures of Rybakina and Sabalenka have been the major shocks of the weekend. Charaeva defeated newly crowned world No. 1 Rybakina in the second round, while Bartunkova eliminated Sabalenka to make the last 16.
Elsewhere in the draw, Coco Gauff and Sun were set to meet in what would be the junior player’s first match against a top-five opponent.
