In the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 category tournament in Cincinnati, the world number one suffered a real sensation – losing 6:7(7), 4:6 to the young Czech tennis player Sara Bejlek (WTA-35).
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The Belarusian, who has dominated the WTA tour in recent seasons, is currently completely lacking confidence, which was best illustrated by this defeat.
A. Sabalenka had a break advantage twice in the first set and was even leading 5:1 in the tiebreak, but still managed to lose. In the second set, she led 4:1, but it all ended with five games lost in a row without response.
“I feel incredible, I just have no words,” Bejlek said after the match. “I just believed in myself, and that was the main key to victory. I fought until the end and I succeeded.”
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The 20-year-old Czech, having a breakthrough season, has already won a WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi this year, and now reached her first career WTA 1000 quarterfinal, where she will face American Madison Keys (WTA-24).
Meanwhile, A. Sabalenka could lose her WTA ranking throne this week – Jelena Rybakina (WTA-2) is seriously challenging for the top spot and needs to reach the final in Cincinnati.
However, the Kazakhstani representative will face Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek (WTA-5), who triumphed in Toronto last week, in the quarterfinals.
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