BEIJING (AP) — Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka was bundled out in the third round of the China Open in straight sets by the Czech Republic's Nikola Bartunkova on Sunday. In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic maintained his perfect record at the tournament with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over U.S. Open champion Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals.
The No. 34-ranked Bartunkova defeated the four-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour and a half
leaving the tournament without its two top seeds in the first week.
Newly crowned world No. 1 Elena Rybakina was ousted from the tournament on Saturday and will now be joined by Sabalenka in exiting WTA-1000 event in Beijing early.
Sabalenka, who was denied a three-peat at the U.S. Open last month by Rybakina, squandered five break points in the first set as her historic struggles in Beijing continued. The 28-year-old Belorussian has never progressed past the quarterfinals at the event.
“First of all, I focused on myself, to be calm,” Bartunkova said. “And Aryna, she’s great, she’s a legend, she’s a Grand Slam champion. So, yeah, I’m really happy that I won the match ... I’m not a girl who celebrates too much.”
Bartunkova will next play 24-year-old Sinja Kraus of Austria, who earlier defeated Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 6-4.
Fifth-ranked Mirra Andreeva eased into the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Polina Kudermetova. This year's French Open winner fired six aces and took five of her seven break point opportunities to overwhelm her Uzbek opponent in just 68 minutes.
Djokovic is bidding to win his seventh China Open title and is now 32-0 in Beijing, eclipsing Rafael Nadal's 31-0 start at the French Open for the best start at a tour-level tournament in the Open era.
The Serb started slowly, dropping his serve in the opening game of the match and eventually losing the first set but bounced back to take the next two to secure the win.
“I gave him an early break and then it was hard to come back in the first set," Djokovic said. “I had a couple of break points when he was serving for the set at 5-4, but didn’t use them, but I kind of felt already from midway through the first set that I was starting to get a good rhythm.”
Djokovic will next face Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals.
Earlier, Hubert Hurkacz beat Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2), 6-2 and will face Alex de Minaur, who beat Andrey Rublev 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, in the other semi.
___
See AP’s full tennis coverage here
