Bejlek Stuns Sabalenka in Cincinnati: World No. 1 Falls After Blowing Leads in Both Sets

World number one Aryna Sabalenka crashed out of the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday night, beaten in straight sets by Sara Bejlek — a 35th-ranked qualifier's dream who had never previously defeated a top-ten opponent.

The scoreline reads 7-6 (9-7), 6-4. The story is in the collapses. Sabalenka led 5-1 in the first-set tiebreak — the shootout used to decide a set that reaches six games all — and somehow lost it 9-7. In the second set she led 4-1. She lost five games on the spin. Bejlek won both sets from positions that looked gone.

For Bejlek, ranked 35th in the world and standing just 5 feet 3 inches tall, the result is a career milestone: her first victory over a top-ten player, earned on the P&G Stadium Court in Cincinnati. It also delivered her a first WTA 1000 quarter-final — the tier of tournaments just below the Grand Slams — where she was scheduled to face Madison Keys (BBC Sport).

Bejlek is no stranger to punching above her weight. She won the Abu Dhabi hard court title in February, coming through qualifying to lift the trophy. Her run in Cincinnati has followed a similar arc: in the round of 32 she recovered from a set down to beat 16th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

For Sabalenka, the timing is brutal. The US Open begins on Sunday, 30 August, and she was bidding to become the first woman to win three successive US Open titles since Serena Williams in 2014. She had looked in ominous form earlier in the week, dismissing Wang Xinyu in the third round in just 54 minutes.

The loss also puts her world number one ranking in jeopardy. Elena Rybakina can overtake Sabalenka at the top of the WTA rankings by reaching the Cincinnati final — a scenario that would have seemed unlikely when the tournament began, with Sabalenka seeded first and rolling.

What makes this result so striking is the manner of it. Sabalenka did not play poorly in spurts; she built commanding leads in both sets and could not close. A tiebreak lead of 5-1 should be near-unchaseable. A 4-1 lead in a set is similarly comfortable. Bejlek won six of the last seven points in the tiebreak and five consecutive games in the second set — the kind of finishing kick that belongs to players ranked far higher than 35th.

There was drama elsewhere in Cincinnati on the same day. Tommy Paul saved a match point — a point that, if lost, ends the match — to beat Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in the men's event.

The Cincinnati Open, with total prize money of $7.4 million and a champion's cheque of $1,086,220, runs through 23 August. Whether Bejlek's run continues or not, she has already produced the result of the tournament.