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Second seed loses to 34th-ranked player from Czechia
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Top seed Elena Rybakina also lost in Beijing
Aryna Sabalenka was swatted aside in straight sets by 34th-ranked Nikola Bartunkova in the third round of the China Open on Sunday, leaving the event without its top two seeds.
Czech player Bartunkova, 20, sent down four aces to beat the former world number one 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 35 minutes. “I focused on myself, to be calm,” Bartunkova said. “She’s a legend … so I’m really happy that I won the match,” she said of the four-time Grand Slam champion. Bartunkova next faces Austria’s Sinja Kraus in the round of 16.
