Birrell and Hunter exit China Open as Rybakina suffers shock defeat
Australian players Kimberly Birrell and Storm Hunter were eliminated in the second round of the China Open, leaving only Taylah Preston in the singles draw for Australia. Newly crowned world number one Elena Rybakina also lost, falling to unseeded Alina Charaeva after a three-set match in Beijing.
Australia’s Kimberly Birrell and Storm Hunter were eliminated in the second round of the China Open in Beijing, leaving Taylah Preston as the country’s only remaining singles player at the tournament. Birrell, ranked 41st in the world, lost 6-4, 6-4 to Czech 18th seed Marie Bouzkova. The 28-year-old Australian led 3-1 in the opening set but dropped serve twice as Bouzkova took it in 42 minutes.
Birrell recovered from a 3-0 deficit in the second set and won four consecutive games. Bouzkova, however, broke twice more to complete the victory. She will next face China’s Zheng Qinwen, who advanced when Anna Kalinskaya retired while trailing 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 3-0.
Hunter, a former doubles world number one ranked 182nd in singles, was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Maria Sakkari in 73 minutes. The Queensland player lost serve six times. Sakkari, the 25th seed, will meet Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who defeated Katerina Siniakova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The biggest upset saw newly crowned world number one Elena Rybakina lose 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to unseeded Alina Charaeva. Rybakina was playing her first match since beating Aryna Sabalenka to win the US Open last month. Charaeva, a Russian-born Armenian ranked 118th, became the lowest-ranked player since the WTA rankings began in 1975 to recover from a set down and defeat a world number one, according to the source.
Third seed Coco Gauff, eighth seed Iga Swiatek, Ann Li and Jelena Ostapenko were among the other players to win their second-round matches.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.