Kartal powers on in Beijing as top seed Rybakina falls to world No. 118
Sonay Kartal beat Wang Xinyu 6-3 6-2 at the China Open in Beijing on Saturday, 3 October 2026, in only her second tour match after six months out with a back injury. It was straight sets. It was assured. It took her into the last 32. BBC
Kartal had retired injured from a last-16 match against Elena Rybakina at Indian Wells in March and did not play again until the Billie Jean Cup. She beat Spain's Lazaro Garcia on her return in Beijing before facing Wang. The second match looked sharper than the first.
The draw then shifted. Kartal had been expected to face top seed Rybakina in the last 32 — the seeding that stops the highest-ranked players meeting early — but Rybakina lost 3-6 6-4 6-3 to world No. 118 Alina Charaeva. Charaeva dropped the first set and took the next two. Rybakina is out before the third round.
There was disappointment for Harriet Dart. She lost to 10th seed Iva Jovic 6-2 3-6 3-6 after winning the opening set. Jovic steadied, then pulled away.
In the men's draw in Beijing, Alexander Zverev beat Juncheng Shang 6-0 6-3. That is ruthless efficiency. The win put Zverev into a quarter-final against Novak Djokovic at the ATP 500 event. ATP Tour
Zverev has now reached six Beijing quarter-finals, the fourth man to do so. Djokovic has reached seven. Djokovic, already confirmed as the oldest ATP 500 quarter-finalist since the series began, against Zverev is a proper heavyweight tie. No clock. Nowhere to hide.
In Tokyo, Carlos Alcaraz beat Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the Japan Open. The first set went to a tiebreak, the first-to-seven decider played at 6-6, and Alcaraz edged it 8-6 before running away with the second. He will face Denis Shapovalov, who beat Alejandro Tabilo 7-5 3-6 6-4. Elsewhere, Jannik Sinner withdrew from the Shanghai Masters while recovering from a knee injury.
What makes this stand out is the timing. Kartal is playing herself back into rhythm point by point. Charaeva has just opened up her section of the draw. For fans, this means Beijing suddenly feels wide open.
