Aryna Sabalenka could be removed from the top of the rankings by the weekend following her surprise loss at the Cincinnati Open.
The Belarusian top seed suffered a surprise 7-6(7), 6-4 loss to Czech underdog Sara Bejlek, who had never beaten a top-10 player or reached the last eight of a WTA 1000 event coming into the match. Sabalenka failed to capitalise on numerous opportunities against the world No.35. In the opening set, she was up a break twice. Then she had a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker before losing it. In the second set, she had a 4-1 lead before losing five games in a row.
“I totally lost my words. I just keep believing and that was the key,” said 20-year-old Bajlek.
“She played amazing tennis and I was just believing, keep fighting and I was just trying my best and that’s it.”
In recent weeks, Sabalenka has struggled for consistency on the Tour, with Cincinnati being the third consecutive WTA-level tournament she has failed to reach the quarter-final stage at. The last time this happened to a world No. 1 on the WTA Tour was in 2019, when Naomi Osaka was at the top of the standings.
As a result of the latest defeat, Elena Rybakina has the chance of reaching world No.1 for the first time in her career. To do so, she must reach the final in Cincinnati but faces a tough task next against an in-form Iga Swiatek, who is currently on a nine-match winning streak after recently winning the Canadian Open. Swiatek defeated Diane Parry 6-3, 6-3, in her latest match.
“I feel that no matter the results, it’s good preparation for the upcoming US Open to play someone who is in good form right now and playing well,” Rybakina said of facing Swiatek after beating Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-4. “My serve wasn’t that good in Canada so if I can serve at least as I did today, it will be very helpful.”
Sabalenka has been continuously ranked world No.1 since October 2024 and has also spent eight additional weeks in the top spot before this. After claiming the Sunshine double in March (winning Indian Wells and Miami), she has only reached the quarter-finals or better in three out of her last seven events played. She will be defending 2000 points at the US Open, which she aims to win for a third consecutive year.
