Sabalenka upset by Sara Bejlek at Cincinnati as world No 1’s form wobbles
Aryna Sabalenka was beaten 7-6 (7), 6-4 by Sara Bejlek late on Wednesday at the Cincinnati Open, a loss in which the world No 1 visibly lost her composure on court and surrendered momentum at key moments.
The match featured a chaotic moment in the first-set tie-break when Sabalenka angrily hit a backhand, slammed her racket to the court and watched the vibration dampener detach and roll beneath the broadcast camera pit while she and volunteers searched for it; a few minutes later she found herself a set down and the match finished around midnight.
Sabalenka struggled throughout, committing a number of unforced errors and appearing sluggish, while the 20-year‑old Czech left‑hander Bejlek used defensive variety and changes of spin and trajectory to unsettle her opponent and close out the straight-sets victory.
Key turning points underlined Sabalenka’s loss of control: she surrendered a 5-1 lead in the first-set tie-break by losing five consecutive points, and after taking a 4-1 lead in the second set she then conceded the final five games to lose 7-6 (7), 6-4.
The defeat continued a marked downturn after a dominant start to 2026 — Sabalenka won 26 of her first 27 matches, lost a painful Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina and completed the Sunshine Double with titles at Indian Wells and Miami in March.
Since Miami her results have dipped, with a 17-7 win–loss record from the start of April and only one semi-final and no finals in her last seven tournaments; one particularly alarming reversal came at the French Open, where she led Diana Shnaider 6-3, 4-1 with a double break before losing 12 of the next 13 games.
Those results have put Sabalenka’s hold on the top ranking in jeopardy: her fourth-round exit in Cincinnati left Elena Rybakina closing the gap to 434 points as of Thursday. Sabalenka carries 2,000 points to defend at the US Open as the reigning champion while Rybakina reached only the fourth round there last year; Rybakina, who was a finalist last week in Toronto after a brief summer dip, is playing well at a crucial moment and it would take another title from Sabalenka in New York plus a string of catastrophic results for Rybakina for Sabalenka to retain a clear advantage.
Sabalenka has stayed free of reported injury and, from what she has publicly shared, does not appear to be facing major off-court issues. She addressed her recent stretch with: “I feel like time flies faster and faster the older I get,” she said, smiling. “It’s crazy. I would say that I’m super‑happy with the beginning of the season. Then I went a bit down the hill, but I feel like I’m building myself back and I feel like I had a lot of great matches, a lot of great wins, a lot of tough lessons, but it’s also my journey and I only get better from that.”
With only one semi-final in her last seven tournaments, the coming months will define the next stage of Sabalenka’s career.