Aryna Sabalenka now faces the real possibility of surrendering the world number one ranking after a startling fourth-round defeat by Sara Bejlek at the Cincinnati Open. Sabalenka led the match twice, ahead 5-1 in the first-set tiebreak and 4-1 in the second set, but Czech 20-year-old Bejlek recovered to win 7-6 (9-7) 6-4.
The scoreline deepened the concerns around the 28-year-old's form as she prepares to defend the US Open title. Sabalenka is chasing a third straight US Open crown, a feat not achieved since Serena Williams in 2014, but her warm-up has been turbulent, with early defeats in both Cincinnati and Toronto and only one semi-final appearance since taking the Indian Wells and Miami titles in March, that semi-final finishing in a loss to Jessica Pegula in Berlin.
For Bejlek the victory is a career milestone. Ranked 35th, she recorded her first win over a top-10 opponent and reached her first WTA 1,000 quarter-final. "I totally lost my words. I just keep believing and that was the key today," she said. The 20-year-old, who won the Abu Dhabi hard court title in February as a qualifier, will meet former Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the last eight.
The upset also reshapes the ranking permutations in Cincinnati. Elena Rybakina, who plays Iga Swiatek in a quarter-final on Thursday, can overtake Sabalenka at the top of the rankings if Rybakina advances to the final. That scenario puts extra weight on the remaining matches in Ohio as the tour moves toward the Grand Slam in New York, which begins on Sunday, 30 August.
In the men's draw, American Tommy Paul staged a gritty comeback to eliminate top seed Alexander Zverev, saving a match point on his way to a 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 victory. The contest was interrupted by 90 minutes of rain when Zverev led 4-3 in the second, and Zverev later failed to convert a match point at 6-5 in the second-set tiebreak. Paul, ranked world number 24, won four straight games after Zverev led 4-2 in the third to seal the win and now faces Italy's Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals.
