Beijing's Upset Weekend: Charaeva Stuns New No. 1 Rybakina, Bartunkova Bounces Sabalenka at China Open

BEIJING — Two days, two world-beaters gone. Elena Rybakina's reign as world No. 1 lasted exactly one match, and Aryna Sabalenka barely lasted 24 hours longer. The China Open produced the upset weekend of the tennis year, as both finalists from last month's US Open were knocked out of the WTA 1000 event at the National Tennis Center — Rybakina 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to world No. 118 Alina Charaeva on Saturday, Sabalenka 6-4, 6-3 to world No. 34 Nikola Bartunkova on Sunday.

THE RECORD — Start with Saturday, because it was genuinely historic. Charaeva, a 24-year-old Russian-born Armenian playing in her first career match against a Top 20 opponent, became the first player from Armenia to defeat a world No. 1 — and, per Reuters, the lowest-ranked competitor since the WTA rankings were introduced in 1975 to rally from a set down and beat the world's top-ranked player. The numbers tell the story of a nerveless performance: Charaeva struck just 16 winners but committed only 17 unforced errors, while Rybakina sprayed 30 winners and 48 errors, committed seven double faults, and converted only five of her chances behind a first serve that kept betraying her. Charaeva won 76 percent of points behind her own first serve and converted five of eight break points across the two-hour, 11-minute battle. She struck late in the second — breaking in the tenth game with a backhand winner off a Rybakina drop shot — then broke for 4-2 in the decider and never looked back. "I don't have words to say. I'm out of words," Charaeva said on court afterward, per tennisnow. "This is incredible. Thank you guys for your support."

RYBAKINA'S ONE-MATCH REIGN — For Rybakina, this was supposed to be a celebration. She had claimed the No. 1 ranking by beating Sabalenka in the US Open final last month, her third Grand Slam title, and arrived in Beijing playing her first match since that triumph. Instead, she became only the second player — after Naomi Osaka in Dubai in 2019 — to lose her very first match as world No. 1. Rybakina had skipped Kazakhstan's Billie Jean King Cup Finals campaign after what she described to Reuters as a "physically demanding" month, and she looked it: 48 unforced errors, a serve that never settled. Charaeva, who had beaten Yuliia Starodubtseva 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in the first round, moves on to face Britain's Sonay Kartal. Rybakina moves on to nowhere — her fall season, and her first weeks at No. 1, now defined by this.

SABALENKA'S EXIT — If Saturday was the shock, Sunday was the confirmation that Beijing has Sabalenka's number. Bartunkova, a 20-year-old Czech ranked a career-high No. 34, dispatched the four-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 35 minutes without dropping her serve once. Sabalenka squandered five break points in the first set and went 0-for-5 on the match; Bartunkova converted three of eight and never faced a real crisis. "First of all, I focused on myself to be calm. Aryna is great. She's a legend. She's a Grand Slam Champion. I'm really happy I won the match," Bartunkova said afterward, per IANS. It was her second career win over a Top 10 player, following Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open in January. For Sabalenka — denied a US Open three-peat by Rybakina in New York — Beijing remains the one that got away: she has never progressed past the quarterfinals in five main-draw appearances. With the top two seeds out before the second week, it is the first time in 12 years the top two seeds failed to reach the Beijing round of 16 — the last time was 2015, when Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova bowed out early.

THE WIDER WOMEN'S DRAW — The upsets don't stop with the top two. Fifth-ranked Mirra Andreeva, this year's French Open champion, eased into the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Polina Kudermetova, and Coco Gauff won her first match since the US Open, beating Camila Osorio 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2 in the second round. Bartunkova next faces Austria's Sinja Kraus, who beat Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 6-4. The women's final is scheduled for October 11 — and right now, the draw is wide open.

MEN'S SIDE — Sunday also delivered on the men's side, and it belonged to Novak Djokovic. The 39-year-old Serb, winless for much of a difficult 2026, rolled back the years to beat top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals — coming from a set down, saving a break point at 4-4 in the second, then breaking at 5-4 in the decider after a grueling two hours and 35 minutes. Zverev, the US Open champion and world No. 2, hit 19 aces but couldn't hold off the 24-time Grand Slam champion's returning. "These are the kind of moments that I still play for, compete for," Djokovic said, per Citi Sports. "The motivation is big when you are feeling good and competing at par with the best players in the world in front of 15,000 people." The win extended his unbeaten Beijing run to 32 matches — moving past Rafael Nadal's 31-0 start at Roland Garros for the best undefeated start at a single ATP tournament in the Open Era — and set up a semifinal with Daniil Medvedev, who beat Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. Zverev, gracious in defeat, said it was "probably either his best or his second-best match of the year," per Tennis Temple, describing Djokovic's level as "a very different level from what we've seen from him these past two months."

THE MONEY — Lost in the upset madness was one of the biggest structural announcements in recent women's tennis. The WTA confirmed that every combined WTA 1000 tournament will award equal prize money to women and men from the 2027 season — the Italian Open, Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open will join Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing, which already met the equal-pay commitment. The move completes a pathway the WTA announced in 2023, with 2027 as the target for equal prize money at combined 1000 and 500 events. "Achieving equal prize money across all combined WTA 1000 tournaments is a major milestone for tennis," WTA chair Valerie Camillo said, calling it "a testament to the enduring nature of the founding vision of the WTA." Sabalenka welcomed the change, telling the press in Beijing that players had been pushing for it for years. "We all deserve to be paid equally," she said, per tennisuptodate.com, which reported her verdict on the announcement.

THE COUNCIL — Sabalenka's voice on these matters now carries formal weight: she was confirmed this week as one of six WTA representatives on the newly formed Grand Slam Players' Council, alongside Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Elina Svitolina, Iva Jovic and Maria Sakkari, per tennisuptodate.com. The Belarusian therefore leaves Beijing with a more direct role in representing players as the sport works through prize money, scheduling, and player-interest issues — even as the tournament itself leaves her with a second-week hole in the draw. Equal pay is arriving. Whether the top seeds can survive a tournament in the meantime is another question.

The women's final is October 11, and for the first time in recent memory, Beijing's closing weekend will be played without its headliners — but with a draw full of players who now believe the headliners are beatable. Charaeva and Bartunkova made sure of that. Follow the fall hard-court swing with Previously's sports coverage and the sports hub.