Aryna Sabalenka has suffered another shock early exit.
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| Aryna Sabalenka lost the last five games to bow out of the Cincinnati Open (Image: Getty) |
Aryna Sabalenka suffered another concerning loss in the lead-up to the US Open, this time bowing out in the round of 16 at the Cincinnati Open. The Belarusian’s No. 1 ranking is once again under threat, and she has won just four matches during the North American hard-court swing so far.
Sabalenka led unseeded Sara Bejlek 5-1 in the first set tiebreak before losing it 9-7, and then moved 4-1 up in the second set. But she dropped the last five games, suffering a 7-6(7) 6-4 defeat. This is the world No. 1’s worst result at the Cincinnati Open since 2021, and she also exited the recent Canadian Open at the same stage.
The 28-year-old started the season on a high, winning the title in Brisbane, finishing runner-up at the Australian Open, and then completing the ‘Sunshine Double’ by winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back. But Sabalenka has not even reached a final since then, and has failed to go beyond the quarter-finals of any Grand Slam or WTA 1000 event.
Bejlek, the world No. 35, had never beaten a top-10 player before, let alone the world No. 1. But she twice came back from a break down in the opening set, and then reeled off five games in a row to claim a straight-set victory over four-time Major winner Sabalenka.
“I lost my words right now. Yeah, it feels incredible. I’m super happy. Yeah, I don’t have any words!” the 20-year-old Czech star told the crowd. “I just was playing what I was feeling, I wasn’t really thinking. What I felt, I play, and that was the key. I was trying to not be nervous and just play, and that’s it.”
Bejlek now faces former Aussie Open champ Madison Keys, and has taken “a lot” of confidence from her statement win. “I just keep believing this match and I was believing no matter what. It was a lot of ups and downs, and I just made it, so I’m very happy,” she added.
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| Sara Bejlek stunned Aryna Sabalenka to reach the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals (Image: Getty) |
For Sabalenka, it raises serious alarm bells about her form heading into her US Open title defence, while she could lose her No. 1 ranking as early as next week. The Belarusian’s fourth-round exit means that current world No. 2 Elena Rybakina is two wins away from surpassing Sabalenka in the rankings.
Rybakina faces Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals – a rematch of last week’s Canadian Open final, won by Swiatek. Should she win, Rybakina would then have to beat either Amanda Anisimova or Madison Keys to become world No. 1 for the first time.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, is set to compete in the US Open mixed doubles event alongside Novak Djokovic before the singles draw gets underway. This is the first time since 2020 that Sabalenka will go into the US Open without having reached at least the quarter-finals of either WTA 1000 event in Canada or Cincinnati.
The 28-year-old has yet to win a Grand Slam title this season, and this could be her first year going without a Slam since 2022 – before she had won a single Major.
- Yasmin Syed
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