Rybakina loses to Alina Charaeva in the China Open second round

Elena Rybakina is out of the China Open in Beijing after her very first match. On 3 October the top seed lost in the second round to Alina Charaeva, ranked No. 118 in the WTA rankings, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6. The match lasted 2 hours 11 minutes: Rybakina took the first set and led 2-1 in the second, but then dropped serve three times. According to the WTA, Rybakina became the second player after Naomi Osaka in 2019 to lose her first match as world No. 1, and Charaeva became the lowest-ranked player since 1975 to come from a set down against the top-ranked player. After the match Rybakina said she had barely had time to rest and recover after the US Open and felt her foot towards the end of the match. In the third round Charaeva will face Sonay Kartal.