Result: a second-round loss
Rybakina's tournament ended in her very first match. On 3 October, in the second round, she lost to world No. 118 Alina Charaeva, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6. The match lasted 2 hours 11 minutes: Rybakina won the first set and led 2-1 in the second, but then dropped serve three times - twice in the second set and once in the third. According to the WTA, Charaeva became the lowest-ranked player since 1975 to come from a set down against the world No. 1. Rybakina is the second player after Naomi Osaka (2019) to lose her first match as the top-ranked player.
After the match Rybakina said she had barely had time to recover after the US Open and felt her foot towards the end of the match. On 4 October she withdrew from the Wuhan Open; her next scheduled event is Ningbo, where she defends her 2025 title.
About the tournament
The China Open is one of the ten WTA 1000 events and the biggest tournament of the autumn in Asia. In 2026 it runs in Beijing from 30 September to 11 October on hard courts. The draw has 96 players: the 32 seeds receive first-round byes, so for the top of the rankings the tournament starts in the second round. The champion earns 1000 ranking points.
The defending champion is Amanda Anisimova, for whom the 2025 Beijing title was a second WTA 1000 trophy. Coco Gauff won the event in 2024 and Iga Świątek in 2023.
Rybakina in Beijing
| Year | Result | How it went |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Semifinal | Lost to Liudmila Samsonova, who then lost the final to Iga Świątek. |
| 2024 | Did not play | Missed the entire Asian swing with a back injury. |
| 2025 | Third round | Seeded eighth: beat Caty McNally, then lost to Eva Lys 3–6, 6–1, 4–6. |
Her best result is the 2023 semifinal. Last year's third round means she has few points to defend in Beijing: a strong run here counts almost entirely as a gain.
The draw and the seedings
The draw was published on 28 September. Rybakina is the top seed, followed by Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva, each leading a quarter. As the top seed she has a first-round bye and meets the winner of Yuliia Starodubtseva against Alina Charaeva. Main-draw play starts on 30 September and second-round matches are scheduled for 2-3 October, according to the WTA.
The other byes in her quarter are Elina Svitolina (6), Belinda Bencic (9), Anna Kalinskaya (15), Marie Bouzkova (18), Ann Li (21), Maria Sakkari (25) and Wang Xinyu (31). Bencic is the likely quarterfinal opponent: the WTA puts their head-to-head at 2-1 to the Swiss.
Beijing is her first tournament since winning the US Open. She withdrew from the Billie Jean King Cup on 18 September with a left ankle injury, and on 26 September the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation cancelled her press conference in Almaty on medical advice.
What is at stake
From 14 September Rybakina is world No. 1, and the Asian swing is the first test of that position. The ranking counts points from the last 52 weeks: in the autumn last year's results drop out, and every player has to replace them with new ones. Rybakina's picture is uneven - she earned little in Beijing and Wuhan in 2025 but defends titles in Ningbo and at the WTA Finals. How the ranking works is explained on the WTA ranking page.
Match times
Beijing is on UTC+8: three hours ahead of Astana, five ahead of Moscow and seven ahead of London (British Summer Time ends on 25 October). A match starting at 7:00 p.m. local time begins at 4:00 p.m. in Kazakhstan and noon in London. Day sessions fall in the Kazakh morning, which makes this one of the most convenient events of the season for fans there.
| Beijing | Astana | London |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | 09:00 | 05:00 |
| 15:00 | 12:00 | 08:00 |
| 19:00 | 16:00 | 12:00 |
The rest of the season
Rybakina is skipping Wuhan with injury: her next events are Ningbo and the WTA Finals at Indian Wells.
| Tournament | Category | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billie Jean King Cup - Finals Entry confirmed Shenzhen, China | Team event (BJK Cup) hard | September 22–27 | Kazakhstan reached the Finals by beating Canada 3-1 in qualifying, but on 23 September, without Elena Rybakina, they lost to Spain 1-2 in the quarterfinals. Rybakina did not travel to Shenzhen: on 18 September she announced her withdrawal with a left ankle injury. Kazakhstan were represented by Yulia Putintseva, Anna Danilina, Zhibek Kulambayeva and Sonja Zhiyenbayeva; Putintseva won the only point. |
| Wuhan Open Wuhan, China | WTA 1000 hard | October 12–18 | On 4 October Rybakina withdrew from the tournament with injury, a day after her second-round loss at the China Open. In 2025 she reached the quarterfinals in Wuhan. The WTA 1000 event will go ahead without her; her next scheduled event is Ningbo. |
| WTA Finals Defending title Indian Wells, United States | WTA Finals hard | November 8–15 | The season-ending event for the top eight has moved from Riyadh to Indian Wells. Rybakina is the defending champion: she beat Aryna Sabalenka 6–3, 7–6(0) in the 2025 final. Her place among the eight for 2026 was already secured with the ranking update on 14 September. |
Asian swing dates follow the standard WTA calendar and are confirmed by organisers. Top players enter shortly before each event - the status column is updated as official announcements appear.
Where to watch and how not to miss it
Legal broadcasters for Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries are listed on the where to watch page. The daily order of play is published the evening before; as soon as Rybakina's match appears in it, it reaches calendar subscribers by itself.
Do not miss the match
The next match has not been scheduled yet. Subscribe to the calendar and it will appear there as soon as the organisers publish the order of play.
Frequently asked questions
When is the 2026 China Open?
From 30 September to 11 October 2026 in Beijing.
Is Rybakina playing the 2026 China Open?
She did. She was the top seed, had a first-round bye and lost to Alina Charaeva in the second round, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6.
When is Rybakina's first match in Beijing?
On 3 October, in the second round. It was her only match of the tournament.
What is Rybakina's best result in Beijing?
The 2023 semifinal, where she lost to Liudmila Samsonova.
What time are China Open matches in Astana?
Beijing is three hours ahead of Astana: a 7:00 p.m. local start is 4:00 p.m. in Astana.