By the numbers: Bartunkova stuns Sabalenka to reach Beijing last 16

A day after world No. 1 Elena Rybakina was knocked out of the China Open, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka followed suit. Sabalenka was bundled out in the third round in Beijing on Sunday by No. 26 seed Nikola Bartunkova in straight sets.

Bartunkova, ranked a career-high No. 34 in the world, began the match by breaking Sabalenka’s serve. She saved five break points in a crucial sixth game to maintain her advantage at 4-2. Although she missed three chances in the next game to go up a double break, the Czech held her next two service games to love to close out the first set 6-4.

Bartunkova was the first to break again in the second set to go up 3-1 and did not face a single break point in the set. She broke Sabalenka again in the ninth game to complete the 6-4, 6-3 win in 1 hour, 35 minutes.

Here are some key stats from Bartunkova’s upset win:

0: The number of break points that Sabalenka converted in the match. She earned five break points in the first set. Bartunkova converted three of eight break chances in the match. 

2: This is the second time in her career that Bartunkova has reached the round of 16 at a WTA 1000 event. She reached the same stage in Rome, where she lost to eventual champion Elina Svitolina.

2: This was Bartunkova’s second career win over a Top 10 player. Her only previous win came against then No. 10 Belinda Bencic in the second round of this year’s Australian Open. Overall, she is 2-5 against Top 10 players in her career.

3: The number of times Sabalenka has reached the quarterfinals in Beijing - in 2024, when she lost to eventual runner-up Karolina Muchova; in 2023, when she lost to eventual champion Rybakina; and in 2018, when she lost to Wang Qiang. The world No. 2 has now failed to reach the semifinals in all five of her main-draw appearances here.

6: The number of consecutive matches Sabalenka has lost after dropping the first set. Her last win after losing the opening set came against Bartunkova herself in Berlin. Overall, Sabalenka is 3-7 after losing the first set in 2026.

12: The number of years since the top two seeds failed to feature in the round of 16 at the China Open. The last time that happened was in 2015, when No. 1 seed Simona Halep lost to Lara Arruabarrena and No. 2 seed Petra Kvitova lost to Sara Errani.

22: This was 20-year-old Bartunkova’s 22nd win of the season, including her 16th on hard courts, making this her most successful season on tour to date.

24: The number of times Sabalenka has faced an opponent ranked outside the Top 20 in 2026. This was her second loss in those 24 matches, with the other coming against Bartunkova’s compatriot Sara Bejlek in the Cincinnati round of 16.

Bartunkova will next face Austria’s Sinja Kraus for a spot in the quarterfinals. Kraus scored a 6-1, 6-4 win over Dayana Yastremska. The Czech holds a 1-0 record against Kraus, having defeated her in Hechingen in 2025.