BEIJING, China : Three-times Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina suffered a shock 3-6 6-4 6-3 defeat by unseeded Alina Charaeva in the second round of the China Open on Saturday, ending her first match as world number one in disappointing fashion.
The 27-year-old Kazakh was playing for the first time since beating four-times major champion Aryna Sabalenka to win her maiden U.S. Open title last month.
Rybakina skipped Kazakhstan’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals campaign after describing the previous month as physically demanding.
Charaeva, a 24-year-old Russian-born Armenian ranked 118th in the world, became the lowest-ranked player in WTA history to come from a set down to defeat a world number one since the rankings were introduced in 1975.
After weathering Rybakina’s early charge, Charaeva converted five of eight break points and won 76% of points behind her first serve. Rybakina struggled on serve, hitting seven double faults during the two-hour, 11-minute contest at the WTA 1000 hardcourt tournament.
Charaeva will next face Britain’s Sonay Kartal.
In the men’s draw, German top seed Alexander Zverev swept aside China’s Shang Juncheng 6-0 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
Fresh from winning his maiden U.S. Open title and helping Team Europe claim the Laver Cup, Zverev will face 24-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s quarter-final.
The 39-year-old Serb has a perfect 31-0 record at the ATP 500 tournament and holds the record with six China Open titles.
